Freedom—September 8, 2024—Berry Bay Association will hold a candidates forum on lake issues at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 5, at Freedom Town Hall.

The forum will be open to the public, and is meant for lake and off-lake residents alike, including residents of towns not on Ossipee Lake, given the complex composition of the state’s electoral districts.

The bipartisan event will be moderated by Don Johnson, Freedom’s long-time Town and School District moderator, according to Berry Bay Association president Roberta MacCarthy.

The forum will be solely on lake-related issues, with each candidate given an opportunity to make a short opening statement before answering questions from the moderator and members of the public.

MacCarthy said the event, co-sponsored by Ossipee Lake Alliance, Green Mountain Conservation Group and Broad-Leavitt Bay Association, is part of a commitment her Freedom-based organization made last year to help area residents understand the positions of political candidates on lake environmental and quality of recreation issues in advance of the November election.

NH LAKES and Ossipee Lake Alliance have promoted similar efforts, which accelerated around the state after a string of legislative defeats for lakes-oriented bills that had the strong support of lake associations.

In July, Broad-Leavitt Bay Association, Ossipee Lake’s largest property owner’s group by membership, opened its annual meeting to the public and invited announced candidates to introduce themselves. Many attended, including Executive Councilor Joe Kenney.

The meeting made news after Kenney responded to concerns about DES’s handling of a major dock application for Leavitt Bay’s Loon Island by agreeing to hold a public hearing on the matter, something DES had said was unnecessary because of low public interest. The subsequent hearing made state news.

MacCarthy said “save the date” emails have been sent out, and formal invitations will be sent when the final list of candidates is announced after the primaries.