The Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce will host the first candidate forum Thursday evening on the University of Miami campus.
Four city commission candidates hoping to replace retiring Commissioner Frank Quesada will go first. They are: Ralph Cabrera, Jorge. L. Fors, Jackson 
“Rip” Holmes and Carmen Olazabal. They get a little more than an hour starting at 6 p.m.
The two mayoral candidates will present voters with a rematch from two years ago, when Raul Valdes-Fauli barely beat Jeannett Slesnick by fewer than 190 votes to squeak into the mayor’s seat. Those two will face-off about 7:15 p.m. The evening is set to end at 8 p.m.
But face-off may be the wrong term. Candidates have been told to be civil and 
not direct any questions or answers at each other, only speaking through the moderator with the audience. Each candidate will be given 90 seconds for an opening statement before answering questions prepared by UM political science professor Jennifer Connolly and her students over the past two weeks.
Read related: Rematch! Jeannett Slesnick will jump into Gables mayor’s race
“We will then transition into questions submitted on-line and by the audience,” Connolly said in an email to candidates, adding that 4×6 note cards will be made available to the audience. “Only I know what questions will be asked. No one, including the Chamber, knows of my choices.
“Insulting or slanderous remarks, heckling, or verbal outbursts during the program will not be tolerated – this includes booing and hissing, snapping or the like,” Connolly added. “Anyone exhibiting this type of behavior will be asked to leave by staff or UM security.”
Candidates were even sent a “Pledge of Positivity” swearing to uphold the most ambitious set of rules:
“I pledge to conduct my campaign in an honest and fair manner and to remain focused on the substantive issues important to the citizens and business leaders/owners of Coral Gables;
I pledge to run a positive political campaign and will not permit or condone any negative or defamatory attacks on my opponents’ personal character or reputation, in any advertisements or during any media appearance or campaign interview, or in any broadcast, print, digital, or internet formats;
I pledge to direct all my paid and unpaid volunteer campaign managers, consultants, ad developers, pollsters, workers and supporters to run and to participate in a positive political campaign;
I pledge to not attack or condemn my opponent’s personal character;
I pledge to not distort my opponent’s record or positions, take their voting records or positions out of context, or use or permit the use of any campaign material or advertisement that is misleading, misrepresents, distorts or otherwise falsifies the facts regarding my opponent or their record;
If third parties who support my candidacy for office, freely and independently choose to do negative campaigning, I pledge to publicly call on such individual or group whose activities violate this Positive Campaign Pledge to immediately cease and desist from such activities and to publicly repudiate their negative campaigning.
Ladra would like to see if Valdes-Fauli — who waged a nasty ethnic campaign two years ago and took Slesnick’s development votes out of context — signed that pledge.
Read related: Coral Gables mayoral race takes a nasty, ethnic turn
And is Chamber President Mark Trowbridge really the best person to keep 
time on the candidates? Given his past endorsements and, ahem, support of some candidates over others, it might be in the Chamber’s — and transparency’s — best interest to find someone else.
One might think that all this politeness and civility is going to make the forum boooooring. But there’s always the Rip factor.
Holmes is a colorful fella that doesn’t get much respect in election coverage because he never seems viable. But he can add entertainment value.
An active downtown property owner with an obsession about bringing a department store to Miracle Mile, he has some good ideas — like bringing those misting sprays in Disney World to downtown Coral Gables — and some crazy ones, like the theory that space aliens are somehow responsible for some of the worst terrorist attacks on America.
He could make things, um, interesting. Ladra hopes Dr. Connolly has a sense of humor.
The forum is from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fieldhouse at UM, 1245 Dauer Drive, next to the Watsco Center. The Gables Chamber of Commerce is joined by five partner organizations in presenting the forum: The League of Women Voters of Miami-Dade, the Coral Gables Democratic Club, Gables Good Government Committee, Miami Young Republicans and the Cuban American Bar Association.
Most of the people at this forum in the past have been friends and supporters of the candidates. In other words, people who are already decided. But it still provides a platform for the candidates to present their pitch.
There will be a second Q&A for candidates at the Congregational Church on March 14 hosted by the Coco Plum Woma’s Club and the Coral Gables Forum. As before, that one will be moderated by CBS4 News anchor Elliott Rodriguez.
The election is April 9 but absentee ballots are out this week.
First Coral Gables candidate face-off is ‘positive’ Chamber forum added by Ladra on
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