Three of 7 candidates for the Edina School Board fielded questions from almost 60 attendees at a forum held by Senate District 49 Republicans. In a session that lasted over an hour, Sarah Patzloff, Lou Nanne Jr, and Linda Friede (pictured from left to right below) addressed virtually every question submitted by the audience.

CLICK on the picture to view a video recording of the forum.

Unfortunately, three of the candidates (Julie Greene, Janie Shaw, and Leny Wallen-Friedman) declined to participate “in political party sponsored events.” The seventh candidate, Garrett Knudsen, had accepted but could not participate due to a last-minute work emergency.

The forum was open to the public. The president of the Edina teachers’ union and members of Edina Indivisible were in attendance. The audience and the participants agreed that the forum had been conducted fairly and impartially.

Notable, several attendees expressed their surprise that their submitted questions actually got asked. This forum proved to be a credible complement to other local “meet-the-candidates” opportunities and will be continued in future election cycles