Dear editor:

Regarding the Sept. 8 letter  from Leslie Moulson, (“Site for candidate debates is not easily accessible“), we fully understand the issue with accessibility at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Legion hall.

However, it was the only reasonably priced venue available to FocusNOTL, which is organizing the debates.

We asked the acting town clerk to allow us to rent the community centre auditorium but she declined our request.

While we are inviting all candidates to participate over five nights, the acting town clerk said she would not rent to us unless all candidates were present at the same time.

In her world it is better to have all 20 candidates overcrowding a stage for two hours and be given three to four minutes of stage time, rather than breaking the Meet & Greets up into five sessions where all candidates will get up to 25-plus minutes of time to interact with residents.

Maybe, the new council will work to put residents and common sense first and stop having the “staff tail” wag the “council dog.”

Joe Accardo

NOTL