It's Showtime: Council Candidate Forums Air on Cox 3

Editor's note: Updated to include Cox OnDemand information.

Forums for candidates seeking city council seats in Rancho Santa Margarita will be televised by Cox 3 this week.

The first forum, sponsored by Patch and the RSM Chamber of Commerce, was taped on Oct. 1 and featured five of the six candidates hoping to get elected in the Nov. 6 general election. It will air Wednesday, 7 p.m. It is 90 minutes.

The second forum, sponsored by the Community Associations of Rancho, was taped Oct. 2. It will air Friday, 7 p.m. It is two hours.

Both forums, after they air, will be available on Cox OnDemand until Nov. 6.

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Candidates seeking election are incumbents Tony Beall and Carol Gamble, and Kenney Hrabik, for two available four-year terms on the council; and Glenn Acosta, Larry McCook and Brad McGirr for one available two-year term on the council.

The forums were considerably different.

The Patch/Chamber forum did not include Hrabik, who had a family medical issue that required his attention instead. Candidates were not provided questions in advance, and it delved more into the personalities of the candidates, what they valued and their vision on various issues, including Chiquita Ridge and economic development. Athough several questions were common to each candidate, there were also questions tailored for each individual.

The CAR forum included all the candidates and covered HOA and other issues, and was more structured; leading up to the forum, candidates supplied written answers to questions, and those written responses were the foundation for questions or follow-ups asked at the forum.

Video, in a re-edited form, for each candidate at the CAR forum can be viewed on the CAR Facebook page.