Restrictions on a planned debate between two primary opponents for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are drawing fire from one of the candidates, who also questions why the Wednesday forum is tucked at the far end of the Providence District.
The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area is organizing what could be the only public debate between Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth and challenger Charlie Hall ahead of the June 12 Democratic Primary, which would likely determine the eventual victor in the historically blue district.
Hall objects that the league is barring nonmembers of the press from making audio and video recordings of the event, and that only a single hour is allocated for debate. He added that the venue — at the James Lee Community Center near Falls Church — is far enough away from the core of the Providence District that residents won’t be willing to brave the traffic.
“I do think this condition was imposed on this debate” from outside the League of Women Voters, he said. “To make it restrictive and difficult for people to be there, or follow the debate by video if they couldn’t be there.”
The origin of these restrictions are unclear, however, and the group’s president, Sherry W. Zachry, refused to comment Wednesday. The prohibition on audio-visual equipment did not apparently exist in a 2005 debate the league sponsored, according to a copy of guidelines from that event obtained by The Examiner.
With the Internet playing an increasingly important role in elections and Virginia political sites frequently posting footage from debates and other campaign events, the league’s restriction on taping would stymie bloggers and others seeking to record the event, because they are not credentialed members of the press.
Smyth did not object to the debate venue, which is the district’s only community center, and said the restriction on taping was not unusual for the chapter of the League of Women Voters.
“Apparently that’s their standard operating procedure,” she said.
