I snuck in (about as stealthily as a 6'3" man can) and caught the tail end of The League of Young Voter's local candidates debate last night over at the Community Television Network studios.

Though I missed out on the school committee candidates (I'm sure there was some fireworks there), I was able to catch the candidates for the District 3 and two At-Large races.

Here's a quick primer: In District Three, where Donna Carr has decided not to run for re-election, the candidates are Richard Farnsworth, Tony Donovan, Bill Linnell and Dan Skolnik.
In the At-Large race (where two seats are up for grabs) incumbents Jill Duson and Jim Cloutier are challenged by John Anton and Mark Reilly.

If I had to give a 90-second snap shot, as promised the candidates discussed issues like collaborating with the school department, addressing rising property taxes.

In one of the big questions of the night - the fallout over the Maine State Pier development process, which deadlocked at Monday's City Council meeting - Duson and Cloutier defended the decision making process and re-affirmed their support of Ocean Properties.

Candidates like Farnsworth, Linnell and Reilly said the time frame allowed to create the proposals was too short while others like Anton said the city should have requested qualifications before proposals.

But there was also interesting questions on what they would do to bring some relief to renters and increase the number of rental properties in town, as well as how candidates feel about creating a municipal WiFi network - which most would make sense for the city, but the price and execution would have to be examined. Skolnik said WiFi would be an immediate benefit and attraction to businesses and artists alike.

One interesting thing I learned last night - if you sign up at The Community Television Network and learn how operate the camera and editing equipment, you'll be eligible to have your own show!
Coincidentally, I'll be looking for cameramen and producers for my new show "Parting Shots with Justin Ellis."

Finallly, if you don't already know, The League is holding its "Step Up to the Plate" Awards on Oct. 3 at the Holiday Inn By The Bay. But before you get your ticket and make plans to schmooze and meet Olympic gold medalist (and dreamboat, I am told) Seth Wescott, they need folks to vote. Head over to the site to vote for nominees in 9 categories, including best artist, activist, anad start-up businessperson.

Meanwhile, on the national political scene this storyof the University of Florida student who was tasered by police during a Q&A session with Massachussets Democratic Sen. John Kerry has been blazing through the interwebs over the last two days.

They've already held a rally for the for the student, Andrew Meyer, who some said may have been a jerk, but probably didn't deserve a tasering.

Over the line cops? Out of control questioning? Or just weird that Kerry kept talking as all of this went down? As the NFL would say - "You Make The Call." Here's the YouTube video of it all going down.

Questions -

- Did you catch the candidates debate? Anything spark your interest?
- Anything you wish the candidates had been asked?
- Was Meyer out of line for not following the rules?
- Were the cops a little over zealous?

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