Seven neighborhood organizations in North and East Knoxville and Knox County have come together to organize a candidate forum, beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, January 21. This meeting will be held at the New Harvest Park Community Center, on Washington Pike, just past Target in the new park.

Ronnie Collins, president of the Alice Bell/Springhill Neighborhood Association and Betty Bean's person of the year for 2007, is the primary organizer, along with neighborhood activist Lisa Starbuck of the Northeast Knox Preservation Association.

Last I heard, more than a dozen candidates were planning to attend.

This meeting will give the citizens of East and North Knox County an opportunity to meet the candidates up close and personal.

The meeting is co-sponsored by seven neighborhood associations:

Alice Bell/Springhill Neighborhood Association
Northeast Knox Preservation Association
Fountain City Town Hall
Town Hall East
North Hills Area Association
Edgewood Park Neighborhood Association
Spring Place Neighborhood Association