Less than a week before the March 15 elections, the general public will have the opportunity to submit questions to candidates running for Freeborn County 5th Commissioner District seat and 1st Ward Albert Lea City Council seat.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee is hosting a public forum slated for 7 p.m. March 9 in the City Council Chambers at Albert Lea City Hall.

This will be the final forum prior to the March 15 election, when residents in Freeborn County’s 5th District will choose a new county commissioner to represent their district and residents in the city’s 1st Ward will narrow a field of six candidates to two candidates.

The two finalists vying for the county commissioner position, Mike Lee and Tony Pestorious, will sound off first.

After about 45 minutes, and a short break, the event will reconvene at 8 p.m. with the candidates for 1st Ward Albert Lea City Council debating the issues.

The forum will be moderated by Albert Lea Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom. It will be broadcast live on Charter Cable Channel 16, the local government channel.

Lee and Pestorious have confirmed their participation at the event.

City Council candidates George Gillespie, John Schulte V, Stuart Olson and Harold Kamrath have also confirmed their participation in the event. It was unknown as of press time if Dave Klatt and Jeffrey McLaughlin would be participating.

Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Randy Kehr thinks the opportunity will help residents living in both the county’s 5th District and the city’s 1st Ward when it comes to making a final decision in both races.

“For the county, we have narrowed it down to a choice between two,” said Kehr. “Those who voted for other candidates in the primary can now focus on these two final candidates.”

The Chamber hosted a similar event on Jan. 12 to help residents of the county’s 5th District narrow the playing field from seven candidates to two in preparing for the primary election, held Jan. 18. The 5th District comprises Pickerel Lake Township plus Albert Lea’s 3rd and 6th wards.

Lee and Pestorious ran for the position in 2008, when former Commissioner Linda Tuttle defeated Lee on a vote of 1,752 to 1,548, to win the seat.

The seat of District 5 commissioner was vacated Aug. 1, 2010, when Tuttle resigned after being accused of using her company, Albert Lea Abstract Co., to divert money into her own accounts to pursue an alleged gambling addiction.

The City Council position opened up after former 1st Ward Councilor Vern Rasmussen accepted an immediate appointment as mayor following the Nov. 3, 2010, election.

Because six people have filed for the seat, a special primary election will be March 15 to narrow the field down to two. The special general election will be May 3.

The format of the forum will be similar to previous events. The order will be determined by a blind draw prior to the forum, and each candidate will have up to two minutes to make an opening statement. Following that, questions from the audience will be submitted in writing to Engstrom, who will deliver the questions to all candidates.

Each candidate will have up to one minute to answer each question, and questions will be addressed to candidates on a rotating basis. As the moderator, Engstrom reserves the right to eliminate duplicate questions or not ask questions of a personal nature. At the end of each forum, each candidate will have two minutes to make a closing statement.

The Governmental Affairs Committee members will be responsible for gathering and submitting the written questions. Questions may be submitted in advance via e-mail to the chamber at alfccoc@albertlea.org.

The public is encouraged to attend.