First public candidate debates of 2014 elections in Volusia County to be held Tuesday & Wednesday at Oak Hill City Hall

County Council at-large & district 3 races, municipal seats to be debated

Headline Surfer® graphics / A public candidate debate for the district 3 County Council seat between challengers David Machuga of New Smyrna Beach, Justin Kennedy of Edgewater and incumbent Deb Denys of New Smyrna Beach, will be held 7:15 p.m. Tuesday at Oak Hill City Hall,  234 US 1 in Oak Hill. A public candidate debate for the at-large County Council seat between challengers Webster Barnaby and Patricia Northey, both of Deltona and incumbent Joyce Cusack of DeLand, will be held 7:15 p.m. Wednesday the same locale. The public is invited and encouraged to participate.
 

DAYTONA BEACH -- The first public candidate debates of the 2014 primary elections will be held Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Oak Hill City Hall in the City Commission chambers featuring two municipal seats and the highly contested races for County Council district 3 and at-large seats.

Future debates leading up to the Aug. 26 primary will be held in Daytona Beach, New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, Edgewater, DeLand and Deltona. Endorsements will be published a week before the primary.

The debates are sponsored and moderated by Headline Surfer®. The public is invited. Headline Surfer® will be videotaping the debates for publication on HeadlineSurfer.com and posting in YouTube. The schedule is as follows:

TUESDAY:

5:30 - 6:15 p.m. Candidates for offices other than those already scheduled will be allowed to come before the Headline Surfer® video camera on the dais and talk with Publisher Henry Frederick about their particular campaign and what their candidacy is all about. Depending on how many candidates show up, each candidate will have between 5 and 15 minutes.

6:30 - 7 p.m. 1st public candidate debate: Oak Hill Commission seat 1: 

Jupp O. Norhaussen, challenger; Kathy Bittle, incumbent.

Bittle will not be there because of a medical issue so Headline Surfer® will allow a stand-in of her choice to fill in for her, arranged ahead of time because of her unique situation. 

7:15 - 8:15 p.m. 2nd public candidate debate: Volusia County Council district 3 seat:

Justin Kennedy, challenger; David Machuga, challenger; Deb Denys, incumbent

WEDNESDAY: 

5:30 - 6:15 p.m. Candidates for offices other than those already scheduled will be allowed to come before the Headline Surfer® video camera on the dais and talk with Publisher Henry Frederick about their particular campaign and what their candidacy is all about. Depending on how many candidates show up, each candidate will have between 5 and 15 minutes. 

6:30 - 7 p.m. 1st public candidate debate: Oak Hill Commission seat 3: 

Linda Hyatt, challenger; Lyn Seward, challenger; Ron Engele, incumbent.

7:15 - 8:15 p.m. 2nd public candidate debate: Volusia County Council at-large seat:

Webster Barnaby, challenger;  Patricia Northey, challenger; Joyce Cusack, incumbent.

The rules are simple: 

-- Show up on time, be transparent (no question asked by the moderator will be a surprise or a gotcha; personal attacks in audience won't be allowed nor will any rude or demonstrative behavior -- booing, clapping, cheerleading, etc);
-- Candidates will be seated on the dais alphabetically with incumbent in the middle. Each candidate will have their name on a white cardboard placard, along with seat and designating challenger or incumbent;
-- The moderator has final say on any conflicts;
-- Business dress attire is expected of the candidates;
-- The Audience will be able to ask questions in the final segment of each debate;
-- Any candidate who doesn't show up will be identified by the moderator as a no-show and the the placard with their name in front of empty seat will remain. There are no games;
-- The debate will be videotaped and placed on HeadlineSurfer.com® for publication online and on YouTube;
-- Joining the moderator, Headline Surfer® Publisher Henry Frederick, on Tuesday on the panel asking questions is chief political blogger Dana Swanson. Headline Surfer® political blogger Cory Thompson will be on Wednesday's panel with Frederick and Swanson. Multimedia Editor Serafina King-Frederick will be the videographer.