The Associated Students of Portland State University will host the third city commissioner debate between Charles Lewis and Amanda Fritz this Friday, Oct. 24 at PSU.
The debate will take place on the ground floor of the Smith Memorial Student Union building in the Parkway North room at 2:30 p.m. It could stand as the last debate between the two candidates before voters decide and determine who will be the next city commissioner by Election Day, Nov. 4.
The debate will offer PSU students a unique and exclusive opportunity to engage the candidates on issues that will affect them as students, and on broader local issues in general.
“We want to convey that ASPSU wants to be a bridge between our student body at large, and our candidates,” said Theo Malone, communications director for ASPSU. “Students don’t have very many opportunities to interface with candidates … we want to bring them to PSU.”
Though a wide array of topics will be covered, the questions and discussion will mainly address educational issues for both K-12 and higher education.
Thirty minutes before the start of the debate, those attending will be able to submit their own questions for the candidates on forms ASPSU will be providing. The moderator will then base his questions and the direction of the debate off of these forms.
Moderating the debate will be Chris Shortell, assistant professor at the Hatfield School of Government at PSU.
“ASPSU is non-partisan,” said ASPSU President Hannah Fisher. “Come to the debates, listen to the issues, listen to what the candidates have to say and make an informed decision.”
Fisher further noted that whoever the next commissioner is, will have a close connection with PSU, and therefore ASPSU would like to make sure students are informed as much as possible on local issues.
“The new commissioner will have an impact on if and when PSU will get a subsidized transit pass,” Fisher said. “That would be an example of a good question to ask at the debate.”
The newly formed PSU-TV will also be filming the event.
According to Jen Lleras with the Oregon Student Association, debates such as these are part of the goals of the Student Vote Coalition, of which ASPSU is part.
Lleras said the coalition set forth three phases this election season. In the first phase, the focus was on registering students to vote. The second focuses on educating students on the election, which is where debates would fall under. The third phase will focus on making sure registered students are voting.
Both candidates have extensive resumes featuring local engagement. Fritz has been involved in the Portland school system in some form or another for 17 years.
During that time she has been an active PTA member, volunteer tutor and Chair of the Markham Elementary Local School Advisory Committee among other duties.
Lewis, a PSU alum, is perhaps best known for founding the Ethos Music Center, which he did as a response to budget cuts that threatened and ended music education in the Portland school system. The Ethos Music Center now serves over 2,000 students from the Portland area.
Both candidates have included the need to create and protect Portland-based jobs in their platforms as well as investing in the various neighborhoods throughout the city.