In a little more than two weeks, candidates running for Lawrence County Commission will have one last opportunity to take the stage in a public forum, this time, hosted by AFSCME Local 3319.

Belinda Brown, president of the union, said the forum would be open to the public and all but one candidate for commission has so far confirmed they would be there. The forum will be at 6 p.m. on March 1 in the Bowman Auditorium of Ohio University Southern.

“We are going to give each candidate three minutes to introduce themselves and tell their visions for the county,” Brown said.

Employees throughout the union will submit questions in advance, which will be asked to the candidates by the moderator, Ron James, union vice president.

Brown said this will be the first time the union has hosted a candidate forum and she said she hopes all other unions in the county will come out and support it.

“These are going to be our potential employers,” Brown said. “We sit back and talk about making change and being positive and moving forward. But we go to the ballot and we don’t know a lot about people we’re voting for. We have a very vested interest in who our employers are.”

Brown said she has gotten positive feedback from all the candidates who RSVP’d for the forum.

“From what they tell me on the phone, they are eager to do this,” she said.