Sept. 9, 2025 The Belmont Center conference room was eerily quiet for a Tuesday morning. It was primary election day, one of the few Tuesdays when the Forum's facilitators could sleep in or jog off to a quiet park. But coffee was brewing, and an agenda was on the table. As facilitators trickled ... Continue Reading →
Precinct organizing is #1, advocate of accountability concludes
Nov. 17, 2024 Journalist Ken Koontz says that, about eight years ago, he saw a need for some way that citizens could hold their elected officials publicly accountable for the promises they make. He wrote a draft of how a "We The People Alliance" could issue letter grades, "A" through "F," as a ... Continue Reading →
Panel to explore plan to hold officeholders accountable
Nov. 13, 2024 Longtime journalist and community activist Ken Koontz announced details of a presentation scheduled at the Forum next Tuesday, Nov. 19. He offered these details in advance so that participants, both in the Belmont Center meeting room and online, would be able to read about the ... Continue Reading →
Open Forum
Oct. 24, 2023 It was a small crowd that attended or listened to this morning's Forum. But a wide variety of issues were aired. If there was news made, it might have been that a last-minute inform-the-voters effort is under way to shore up support for the school bonds. The District 6 City Council ... Continue Reading →
Young Entrepreneurs Network: Learning together as they grow their businesses
After their presentation at the Forum, some of the members of the Young Entrepreneurs Network posed for a photo with Nasif Majeed (in cap above), who in a long business career was at one time leader of the West Charlotte Business Incubator near the Johnson C. Smith University campus. The ... Continue Reading →