Chamber candidate forum goes virtual

The candidate forum organized by the Cloquet Area Chamber of Commerce got a makeover for 2024. Instead of candidates sitting side by side in the Cloquet City Council chambers in front of a live audience, individual interviews will be recorded without an audience and posted to the city and chamber website, as well as the city's CAT-7 television channel (Mediacom customers).

"With only two [local Cloquet] contested races this year, we decided to do 'Meet the candidate' interviews that will be taped and uploaded for viewing," said chamber executive director Kelly Zink, referring to the races for State Representative District 11A (Rep. Jeff Dotseth and Pete Radosevich) and Carlton County Commissioner District 1 (Sarah Plante-Buhs, Caleb Dunlap).

Zink said she expects the questions to be similar to past years and thinks the result won't be terribly different. "It's always been more of a forum than a debate, more of a 'go-around-the-room style," she said.

The interviewer is from outside the county, in an effort to keep things as neutral as possible, she said. She said it should be interesting because the candidates won't hear each other's answers.

The interviews are being taped next week and Zink hopes they will be available online soon, maybe even by next weekend, when the Pine Knot News special 2024 local election guide will hit mailboxes across the county.