No incumbents show up for Alexandria political forum

Oct. 16--ALEXANDRIA -- Candidates for the Alabama House and Senate talked about Medicaid expansion, a lottery and the area's declining population Monday night at the Alexandria Civitan Club's forum for candidates in the Nov. 6 general election.

If that list of topics seems skewed to the Democratic side, it may be due to the unusual nature of the forum. For the first time in years, organizers say, no incumbent candidates showed for the Civitan event.

"We've been doing this for 30 years, and I can't recall the last time this happened," said Chris Page, a forum organizer.

Nicki Arnold-Swindle, Pam Howard and Jim Williams all stood in front of the crowd at the Alexandria Civitan hall, introduced themselves, and took questions from the audience. All three of the speakers were Democrats. Williams hopes to represent Calhoun and Talladega counties in the Senate District 12 seat. Arnold-Swindle is seeking election to House District 36, which covers Saks and parts of Alexandria, among other places. Howard hopes to represent House District 40, which includes Jacksonville and Alexandria.

Organizers say Republican candidates were invited to the forum, both directly and through county party chairman James Bennett.

Rep. Randy Wood, R-Saks, said he and Rep. Koven L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, would miss the forum because they were already scheduled to attend a private meeting with local credit union representatives at Silver Lakes Golf Course at the same time.

"We've had that planned forever," Wood said. "I wish they'd given us some different dates to choose from."

Blake Westbrook, a lobbyist for the League of Southern Credit Unions, confirmed that the organization did indeed have a meet-and-greet for local incumbent lawmakers, not open to the public, scheduled for Monday night.

Attempts to reach Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, for comment through his spokesperson were unsuccessful Monday. Civitan president Maurice Wildman said Marsh had a prior engagement in Birmingham.

Wildman said the Civitans for years have held their final debate on a Monday in mid-October -- a claim borne out by past Star articles on those debates. Those past debates typically drew crowds of both candidates and spectators.

"I'm not sure when something like this has happened before," Wildman said of the one-sided forum.

Democrats weren't shy about taking swipes at the absent candidates.

"I had to pay $350 to change a plane ticket, so I could be here instead," said Arnold-Swindle, the District 36 candidate. She said she made the switch, out of her own pocket, because the debate was important.

Arnold-Swindle said she was in favor of Medicaid expansion as one way to fight the closure of small-town hospitals.

"Because I'm a Christian, I believe we have a responsibility to care for other people," Arnold-Swindle said.

Asked if the state should institute a lottery to help fund government -- a common Democratic theme -- Arnold-Swindle said she was in favor of letting the public vote on the matter.

"I feel like it's a poor tax," she said. "But it's a voluntary poor tax."

Page, the Civitan moderator, asked District 40 candidate Howard what she could do about the speed limit on U.S. 431 in Alexandria, which local residents say is the scene of an abnormal number of wrecks.

Howard said she was concerned about not only 431 but Alabama 204 in Jacksonville, the site of recent crashes. She said she realized the Department of Transportation had a process for handling speed limits, but that more should be done.

"I get the answer that until enough people die on an intersection, they can't do anything about it," Howard said. She said lawmakers should be "proactive and not reactive" in pressing for a solution.

Asked about the state's high poverty rate, Howard said Alabama should focus more on vocational training -- including opening up public-school vocational centers at night for adults.

Williams, the Senate candidate, said the state had passed up on a major windfall in rejecting Medicaid expansion.

"We've been turning down 90 and 95 cents on the dollar by turning down Medicaid expansion," he said.

The closure of Jacksonville's only hospital created a zone north of the city where emergency patients are more likely to be airlifted because of the distance to the nearest hospital, he said.

"Anybody here know what an air ambulance costs? And what insurance pays? It's basically financial ruin," he said.

Williams said that if elected, he'd like to develop a statewide agreement with air ambulance services, to negotiate lower prices and make sure that insured patients had the same airlift coverage anywhere in the state.

Even though none of the candidates had an opponent present, each was given a set time for initial comments. It's a format the Civitans have long used, giving each candidate equal time to speak. The group has also been careful to couch its events as "candidate forums," a nod to candidates who are skittish about the more combative word "debate."

Still, the Civitan forum has produced the occasional uncomfortable moment for electoral hopefuls. In October 2014, the Alexandria audience grilled Marsh about the indictment of then-House Speaker Mike Hubbard on corruption charges -- news that broke just hours before the forum was held.

Both incumbents and challengers spoke at a Civitan forum held before the June primary. That debate packed the Civitan hall.

A much smaller crowd, about two dozen, attended Monday night's forum.

Capitol & statewide reporter Tim Lockette: 256-294-4193. On Twitter @TLockette_Star.

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