Voters will get their first chance to size up Ward 1 and Ward 2 candidates for the Franklin City Council during a free public forum Monday.

The forum, sponsored by The Tidewater News, will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Paul D. Camp Community College Workforce Development Center.

Ward 1 candidates Barry Cheatham and Dan Hoctor and Ward 2 hopefuls Brenton &uot;Benny&uot; Burgess and Charles Wrenn have agreed to participate. They will make brief opening statements before fielding questions from voters. Steve Stewart, publisher of The Tidewater News, will serve as moderator and ask questions submitted by voters.

Citizens are encouraged to e-mail their questions by noon Monday to candidatequestions@tidewaternews.com.

&uot;This should be a very informative evening and a very useful tool for voters as they choose their elected leadership in city government for the next four years,&uot; Stewart said. &uot;I appreciate the willingness of the candidates to face the voters and to express their views on a number of important topics. We hope to have a nice turnout Monday evening.&uot;

If questions submitted in advance do not consume the 45 minutes allotted for Q&A, those in attendance at the forum will be encouraged to write questions on index cards and submit them to the moderator. At the end of the Q&A period, each candidate will make a brief closing statement.

Political newcomers Cheatham and Hoctor are vying for the City Council seat being vacated by Joe Scislowicz. Wrenn, the Ward 2 incumbent, is being challenged by Burgess.

A similar forum featuring the city’s three mayoral candidates is planned for Wednesday, April 30.