Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read will visit Medford on Tuesday, September 29, for an Oregon Votes Town Hall that will bring state and local officials before the public ahead of the November general election.
Read will be joined by state Sen. Jeff Golden, Jackson County Clerk Chris Walker and Medford Mayor Michael Zarosinski. The hourlong event begins at 6 p.m. in the Prescott Room at the Medford Police Department building, 219 S. Ivy St.
The Medford gathering is the next stop in Read’s town hall series. It will give Southern Oregon residents an opportunity to hear from officials whose work spans state elections, county election administration, the Legislature and Medford city government. Members of the public may submit questions for the panelists when they RSVP.
Walker’s participation places Jackson County’s elections administrator on the panel alongside Oregon’s secretary of state as voters prepare for the general election. Golden and Zarosinski will bring the perspectives of their respective state and city offices to the conversation. The Secretary of State’s office has not released a detailed agenda or identified the questions the officials expect to address.
Dustin Walcher of Southern Oregon University will moderate the town hall. A professor of history and political science, Walcher also serves as interim dean of the university’s School of Business and interim co-dean of its College of Arts and Humanities.
The event comes as voters across Oregon look toward the November election and the decisions they will make on their ballots. In Jackson County, the discussion will bring the state’s chief elections official and the county clerk to Medford for a public conversation at a single venue. Residents who want to raise a question can send it ahead of the event through the RSVP process.
The scheduled format gives the panel one hour, from 6 to 7 p.m. The Secretary of State’s office has invited members of the public to attend but has not said whether questions will also be taken from the room during the discussion.
The Oregon Votes Town Hall will be held Tuesday, September 29, in the Prescott Room at 219 S. Ivy St. in Medford. Residents interested in attending can RSVP through the event registration provided by the Secretary of State’s office.