Fort Worth mayoral runoff candidates Jim Lane and Betsy Price will attend a forum Wednesday evening sponsored by Fairness Fort Worth and the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce

Fairness Fort Worth and the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce will host a forum for Fort Worth mayoral runoff candidates Jim Lane and Betsy Price on Wednesday at Four Day Weekend Theater, 312 Houston St. That’s on Houston at Third Street, next to The Reata in downtown Fort Worth.

Price and Lane both talked to Dallas Voice last week about where they stand on LGBT issues. But this forum gives the community a chance to hear more from the candidates not only on LGBT issues, but on other topics of interest, too. Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy and I will be moderating. Anybody who has a specific question they would like to see asked can email that question to FairnessFtWorth@aol.com.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for 30 minutes of meeting and greeting with the candidates, and the Q&A session starts at 6 p.m.

According to a press release from Lane’s campaign, sitting councilmembers in seven of the eight districts in the city are sponsoring mayoral forums in their respective districts, but Price declined to participate in the first one, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today at Bethel United Methodist Church, 5000 Southwest Blvd. That forum is sponsored by District 3 Councilman W.B. “Zim” Zimmerman and the Ridglea Hills Neighborhood Association.

The Fort Worth City Council has eight councilmembers representing single-member districts, plus the mayor who represents the whole city. District 7 incumbent Councilman Carter Burdette did not run for re-election, and Dennis Shingleton and Jon Perry are squaring off in a runoff off to see who will replace him. The Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County and the Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association have agreed to sponsor a forum in District 7, according to Lane’s press release.

Lane has been pushing for a series of one-on-one debates with Price since the two made the runoff in the May 14 general election, and has been criticizing Price consistently for refusing to participate in such forums. In his press release today, Lane said, “This is a very important race for the future of Fort Worth, and it is seems she [Price] doesn’t want to discuss the issues with me in a public setting.”

Price, however, told us that she first received notice of today’s scheduled forum early Sunday morning, and by that time, she already had a commitment for tonight. She said she received notice today that another of the district forums is scheduled for Thursday night, and she already has a reception scheduled for that time.

“My schedule is already jam-packed. There is no way I can get such late notice of an event and be able to attend,” Price said.

Price also said that she has said before she will attend debates and forums scheduled by the community, but not events that Lane and his campaign schedule. She said she has committed to “six or seven” such events planned “by the community,” the first of which is the Fairness Fort Worth/GLBT Chamber forum on Wednesday.

The runoff election will be held Saturday, June 18, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. But in-person early voting runs from Monday, June 6, through Tuesday, June 14.