The forum is intended to bring the community together to discuss issues that are important to Salem voters.

"We feel like our role as a community newspaper is to help voters stay well informed, especially during an election season. This is our way of enabling local people to get more information about the candidates and issues that are important to them," AP Walther, publisher of Salem Monthly Newspaper, WillametteLive.com and owner of Willamette Media, said.  

Candidates will be asked questions that include such topics as public participation, environment, local economy and downtown. Community leaders, business owners and other media outlets have been invited to present questions as well.

Lloyd Chapman is running against incumbent Janet Taylor. Several City Council seats are up for grabs. So far Diana Dickey, David Beem, Chuck Bennett, Brad Nanke and Bob Cannon have registered to run for office. Due to a scheduling extension, candidates are able to file for office until March 11.

To find out more about some of the current candidates, check out these links to recent WillametteLive and Salem Monthly stories. Click a name to get more information: Chuck Bennett Diana Dickey Lloyd Chapman.

WillametteLive will provide live blogging during the event. A video of the event will be publicized on WillametteLive.com and YouTube.  

If you have questions about the forum, call (503) 540-0022 ext. 1 or e-mail editors@salemmonthly.com