PORTSMOUTH — Democrats bowed out in 2016 when Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) hosted a candidate forum for Town Council hopefuls.

This year, however, they’re back in.

PCC, a local nonprofit taxpayer watchdog group founded in 1998, is holding two events for local candidates in the upcoming midterms. The first, for Town Council candidates, will be conducted in two sessions starting at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, in the Town Council Chambers at Portsmouth Town Hall.

The second forum, on Thursday, Oct. 11 in the same place, will be for candidates for Senate District 11 (6:30 p.m.), House District 72 (7:30 p.m.) and Portsmouth School Committee (8:30 p.m.).

In 2016, the Democratic candidates for Town Council skipped the PCC’s forum. Leonard Katzman, chairman of the town’s Democratic Committee and a council candidate then and now, questioned the event’s fairness since three past or present PCC officers were running for council: Larry Fitzmorris, Debra Cardoza and Paul Kesson. All three are running again for council this year.

The PCC went on with the council candidate forum without the Democrats.

This year is different, however, according to Mr. Katzman.

“This year, because the League of Women Voters held a forum and Portsmouth Democrats acknowledged that it was a completely unbiased one, we felt we will participate in the PCC forum,” Mr. Katzman said in an interview on Tuesday. “Even though members of the PCC are on the (Town Council) slate and we don’t consider it to be a completely unbiased forum, we will still attend knowing we had an opportunity to participate in an alternate forum.”

The League of Women Voters forum for council candidates was held last Thursday at Town Hall.

Mr. Fitzmorris, who’s running for council as a Republican, is the longtime president of PCC. He also handles the group’s publicity and e-mailed the press release about the forums on Tuesday. He denies any conflict of interest.

“I have not been participating in the planning or preparation of the PCC's candidates' night events as I am a candidate,” he stated in an e-mail Tuesday to The Portsmouth Times. “I am obviously handling the press releases, mostly because I have the e-mail addresses and am the acting communications director. Tom Grieb is managing the event.”

Mr. Fitzmorris added, “I am not sure why the Democrat candidates for council decided to attend our forum. We are, however, pleased that they will do so.”

The R.I. Secretary of State’s website lists Mr. Fitzmorris, Ms. Cardoza and Peter Roberts as current members of PCC. Ms. Cardoza is running as a Republican along with Mr. Fitzmorris, while Mr. Roberts is seeking a council seat as an independent.

Mr. Fitzmorris declined to say whether Mr. Kesson and Jeffrey Richard, both Republican council candidates, are current PCC members.

“The Secretary of State nonprofit website lists our executive committee members as board members of the PCC,” Mr. Fitzmorris stated. “This is required by state law. Beyond that listing, we do not publicly list our members. We do acknowledge the total number of members, which is approximately 500.”

Forum details

The Oct. 10 forum for council candidates will be moderated by Monique Chartier of Anchor Rising, while Kate Nagle of GoLocalProv will handle all three sessions on Oct. 11. The moderators will welcome questions from the audience and voters will have the opportunity to speak individually with candidates after each session. Coffee and refreshments will be served following each session.

There are 15 candidates for Town Council — seven Democrats, six Republicans and two independents. Five people are running for School Committee — three Republicans, one Democrat and an independent.

The Senate District 11 race is between incumbent Sen. James Seveney (D) and challenger Stephanie Calise (R). House District 72 is a seat held by Rep. Kenneth Mendonça (R), who’s being challenged by current Portsmouth School Committee Chairwoman Terri Cortvriend (D).

Video recordings of the forums will be submitted to the Public Access Studio for broadcast on Cable Channel 16.