Cleveland Candidate Forums

In collaboration with our partners, Global Cleveland would like to announce our International Community Candidate Forums occurring the week of August 2nd. These non-partisan discussions are a virtual open to the public opportunity for our Immigrant and International Community to engage with the candidates running for office here in Cleveland.  

The Candidate Forums will be an apolitical dialogue to raise awareness and build understanding between Cleveland’s diverse international community and the candidates running for Council in Cleveland’s 17 wards and for Mayor. This is a part of our wider effort to amplify Cleveland’s international residents’ and newcomers’ voices and increase knowledge of issues facing the international community among our elected officials. Every filed candidate in each of the 17 council races and the mayor’s race has been invited to participate and sent a list of pre-supplied questions. These questions will address three basic categories; Cleveland’s cultural and ethnic diversity, immigration’s contributions to Cleveland’s economic growth, and immigration’s transformative effect on Cleveland.  

Each race will have a separate forum to allow for in-depth discussion and the time for adequate exchange of ideas. The council race discussions will be 30 minutes with 10 minutes of questions from the audience if 2 or fewer candidates register to attend or an hour with 20 minutes of questions from the audience if 3 or more candidates register to attend. The mayoral discussion will be 1½ hours with 30 minutes for questions from the audience. These forums will be held each evening during the week of August 2nd. The tentative schedule is below. 

International Community Candidate Forums Schedule 
*Schedule Subject to Change

To reassert, this is not a debate for candidates, rather a time for learning and discussion. These events are a stepping stone towards increased civic engagement among Cleveland’s newcomers and greater awareness of their needs.