League of Women Voters sets debate for state Public Lands Commissioner

The Leagues of Women Voters of Washington and Benton-Franklin Counties will host the candidates for the Commissioner of Public Lands in a live debate to be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25, at at WSU Tri-Cities in Richland.

The 60-minute debate will be recorded and livestreamed by Northwest Public Broadcasting.

Voters will hear the candidates respond to questions from the public about the office and how they would fulfill the role of Commissioner of Public Lands. Voters can submit questions for the candidates in advance by emailing [email protected].

“Voters will be making critical decisions on Nov. 5. Who will be commissioner of public lands is among them,” said LWVWA President Mary Coltrane. “We ask voters to join us on Sept. 25 to hear directly from candidates on how they plan to handle the job. We ask voters across the state to send questions, or to bring their questions to the debate so we can put them to the candidates.”

Diane Molleson, president of the LWV of Benton-Franklin Counties, added, “We welcome the candidates for Commissioner of Public Lands to the Tri-Cities. It’s a wonderful opportunity for voters to hear from them directly about the policies they will pursue as they manage Washington’s vast acreage of public land.”

The public is invited to attend the in-person forum. NWPB will also stream the forum on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/watch?v=-dcuS-eVHzE. After the event, the forum will be posted on lwvwa.org and nwpb.org.