Big Bear City, CA, March 5, 2012, 8:00am – The Mountain Area Tea Party and K-BEAR have partnered to bring candidate debates to Big Bear Valley. Three debates have been scheduled and set for broadcast on April 24, May 1, and May 7 from 4 to 6pm. Mountain Area Tea Party Coordinator, Jim Weinheimer believes that due to legislative redistricting, the 50,000 voters who live in Big Bear Valley and adjacent mountain communities needed an opportunity to hear how their concerns will be addressed by the candidates. With sponsorship by the Mountain Area Tea Party in place, owner of KBHR, Rick Herrick offered the station’s facilities to provide a forum for the debates, and broadcast them live. The debates will also be available on K-BEAR’s live stream over the internet at www.bigbearnews.com. Big Bear Valley and mountain residents are directly impacted by three races: 3rd San Bernardino County Supervisorial District, 33rd California Assembly District and the 8th Congressional District. Primary elections are June 5 and the general election is November 6. Candidates contacted by the Mountain Area Tea Party have indicated they’ll participate in the debates. In the meantime, the Mountain Area Tea Party is inviting candidates to address the group at its regular meetings held on the first and third Tuesday of the month. At the meeting on March 20, 1st District San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt will speak. To date, County Supervisors Neil Derry and Janice Rutherford have spoken to the Mountain Area Tea Party, as have Big Bear Lake Mayor Bill Jahn, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly and Greg Imus. The next meeting of the Mountain Area Tea Party is at 6:00pm Tuesday, March 6, at the Big Bear Moose Lodge on North Shore Drive in Fawnskin.
For more information, check MATP’s website at www.mountainareateaparty.net or via email at
mountainareateaparty@verizon.net
