The lack of substance could be blamed on incumbents who don’t want to talk about specifics and challengers who don’t have the ability or willingness to rock the boat.

But it also could be due to a tedious and rule-bound format by the Tacoma City Club and its partners in the League of Women Voters. The format favors generalized responses as long as they don’t exceed the time limit.

The City Club is one of the few organizations considered neutral ground that can command attendance by candidates. But if the club doesn’t loosen up, it will abdicate that role. Let the candidates converse, have a moderator who can follow up and make them answer the questions, allow the voters in the room to ask the questions.

And end the tyranny of the danged timer.

Last week’s Port Commission forum was my first City Club event in my new role as their ED. I took a lot away from the event and learned a lot about the port–and the candidates–that I didn’t know.

5 people can be hard to manage on a stage, so I don’t know how else to do it without a timer. But he brings up some interesting points about format.

Anyone else go? Thoughts about the format? Or just general ideas on structuring a good debate with so many people and still squeezing it into an hour?