Mayoral Debate to be Held at The 109 on September 1, 2026
A debate between mayoral candidates, including incumbent Mayor Brian Marl, and candidate Dr. Michael McVey will be held at The 109 Cultural Exchange on Tuesday, September 1st at 6:00 pm. There will be a short meet & greet at the beginning with the rules and regulations being read at 6:15 pm. The debate will begin directly after that.
Questions were submitted by community members, then reviewed for relevance, fairness, clarity, and community interest by a panel consisting of Lauren Horberger of The League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County, Libby Williams of The Saline Summit, Sue Kelch of The Sun Times News, and Mary Dettling of Saline Main Street. Similar questions were combined, and every effort was made to include a balanced range of topics.
The panel’s role was not to favor either candidate or influence candidates’ response, but to help ensure an impartial, fair, informative and substantive debate.
The candidates will hear the questions for the first time at the debate.
Rules of the Debate
Our goal with the following rules is to provide Saline residents with a fair and meaningful opportunity to hear directly from both candidates about their priorities and vision for the future of our community.
The rules of the debate shall be as follows:
1. Each candidate will begin with opening statements that shall last up to 4 minutes each.
2. A coin toss conducted before the debate will determine the order of the candidates’ opening statements. The candidate who opens, will also receive the first question. T
3. The order will alternate throughout the evening to ensure that each candidate has the opportunity to respond to questions first.
4. We will be asking 11 questions. Both candidates will be asked the same questions, and each will have 90 seconds to respond.
5. After both candidates have responded, each candidate will be given up to 45 seconds for rebuttal. Rebuttal time should be used to address the question or the other candidate’s answer, not to introduce an unrelated topic.
6. Candidates shall not interrupt one another. Each candidate will be allowed to complete their allotted response without interference.
7. A timekeeper will provide visual cues as each candidate approaches the end of the allotted time. A yellow card indicates 30 seconds, and a red card indicates time is up.
8. When time is up, candidates shall finish their sentence promptly and respectfully. Unused time may not be transferred to another response. Unused time may not be transferred to another response.
9. The moderator is responsible for enforcing the rules, maintaining the schedule, and keeping the discussion focused on the question asked. When necessary, the moderator may interrupt a candidate, redirect the conversation, or move to the next question.
10. Members of the audience are asked to remain respectful and quiet throughout the debate. Please do not applaud, cheer, boo, call out, or otherwise reach verbally or with inappropriate gestures during individual responses. This helps preserve time and ensures that both candidates receive impartial, equal, and uninterrupted opportunities to speak.
After all questions are asked and rebutted, each candidate will have up to four minutes to deliver a closing statement. The candidate who spoke second during the opening statements will speak first during the closing statements.A Special Thank You To Our Contributors
Live Streaming & Video
This debate will be livestreamed on Saline Main Street's Facebook page.
Video will also be available after the event on The League of Women Voters of Washtenaw County's website as well as on The Saline Summit.
