It’s not a presidential election year; however, this November will be every bit as important to local voters.

There are openings on school boards and city councils. Most races have only one candidate on the ballot. Several are contested. Those are the contests two political forums set for this October will target.

The sessions are sponsored by the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter, Wilson Communications and Ellsworth County Economic Development.

“These are the people who determine the amount of money we spend on our streets and other infrastructure. These are the people who define local education policy for our children and grandchildren. I could go on, but you get the idea. Local elections are important. They affect our lives on a daily basis because they are local,” said Linda Mowery-Denning, editor-publisher of the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter.

Contested races include Ellsworth City Council, Wilson mayor and City Council and the Central Plains School Board.

The Ellsworth City Council forum will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in the community room at the Ellsworth Golf Course.

Wilson and Central Plains candidates have been invited to a forum at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, in the Wilson School commons.

Candidates will be asked written questions before the forums are opened to audience questions.

Brian Boisvert, general manager of Wilson Communications, said he is looking forward to the forum in Wilson.

“I think being active in public life is always important,” he said. “And I think it’s great for any candidate seeking office to have an opportunity to meet with the public, to introduce themselves, to communicate what they believe in and what they hope to accomplish and to take questions from the audience.”

Boisvert said he and other employees at Wilson Communications are active in the Wilson community and think it’s important to have people running for city council and school board.

“It’s part of our civic duty, I believe, to become part of this and we’re happy to do it,” Boisvert said.

As moderator of the forum at Wilson School, Boisvert said he hopes most of the questions will come from the patrons.

“That’s who really I like to hear from,” he said.“As a moderator I am there to facilitate not to influence.”

Boisvert said with regard to the school board, there are a lot of issues going on.

“It’s very sad news to see any center be closed,” he said. “Nobody was happy about Bushton being closed. Nobody ever wants to see a building closed. But it happened. I know the school board worked very hard and examined all of the facts so I think some of the questions I might have are what do you see as the future? What are your priorities? Why do you want to serve on the school board? Those types of issues to let people get to know the candidates.”