With 33 days until Election Day, candidates for Turlock City Council will face the public for the first time tonight in a debate sponsored by the Turlock Chamber of Commerce.

The debate, which is open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Berg Hall of Covenant Village, 2125 N. Olive Ave. Candidates will be allowed opening and closing statements, will answer prepared questions, and will also field questions from the audience. Light refreshments will be served.

Tonight’s debate is just the first in a series of debates leading up to the Nov. 2 election.

The next debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 5 in the Yosemite Room of Turlock City Hall, 156 S. Broadway.

The Turlock Journal, in conjunction with California State University, Stanislaus, will hold a Turlock City Council Candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 in Snider Hall on the CSU Stanislaus campus.

The Journal will provide full coverage of all three public debates, where the six candidates for two available Turlock City Council seats will offer their plans for the city.

Newcomers William W. DeHart Jr., director of marketing at Covenant Village retirement home; Forrest White, a former Turlock Recreation manager and San Joaquin County Fair chief; Pat Noda, a Turlock businessman; and Timm LaVelle, a former Turlock Unified School District Trustee and a small business owner, will take on three-time candidates David “DJ” Fransen, owner of TurlockCityNews.com; and  Jeremy Rocha, a recent graduate from California State University, Stanislaus who will be listed on the ballot as an agribusinessman.

A seventh candidate who had filed to run, Stanislaus County Deputy District Attorney Shawn Barlow, died unexpectedly earlier this month.

To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.