High turnout, limited questions at Yountville candidate forum
More than 200 people turned out at the Yountville Community Center on Monday night for what is expected to be the only candidate forum scheduled for Yountville this election season. The Yountville Chamber of Commerce presented the forum, with former Yountville Vice Mayor Richard Hall serving as moderator.
On the dais were the two mayoral candidates, incumbent Marjorie Mohler and former Yountville Public Works Director Joe Tagliaboschi.
Also present were five of the six candidates seeking two Yountville Town Council seats: incumbents Robin McKee and Hillery Trippe, plus challengers Matt Chrzanowski, Jill Turner and recently qualified write-in candidate Robert Moore, who had missed the filing deadline. Jessi Bugden was absent as she was on her honeymoon.
All candidates had received in advance 10 questions that were developed from a survey sent several weeks earlier to Yountville Chamber members.
Due to time constraints, only six of the 10 questions were presented to the candidates who had two minutes to answer each question. Several candidates went slightly over the time limit, but none were cut off before completing an answer.
All but one of the candidates appeared to mostly read from their prepared answers. The exception was mayoral candidate Tagliaboschi, who answered questions without relying on prepared answers.
Many candidates gave thoughtful and specific answers to the questions, while others returned to their campaign statements rather than directly addressing the questions. Two of the incumbent candidates, Mohler and McKee, at times highlighted projects completed during their time in office as evidence of their qualifications rather than directly answering the questions posed.
Because this was a forum not a debate, there was no interaction between the candidates and no opportunity for candidates to respond to or question one another’s answers. Also, members of the public were not permitted to ask questions. When a member of the audience interrupted to ask when he would be allowed to ask a question, Hall explained the format, advising that audience members could approach the candidates after the session to ask questions. Dissatisfied with this response, the man interrupted again, a few minutes later, to ask his question before Sheriff Baumgartner quietly intervened to explain the process to him.
Other attendees also expressed frustration that they were not able to ask the candidates questions directly; however, several candidates have been holding meet-and-greet sessions, which provide an opportunity to ask specific questions and speak directly with the candidates. These meetings are ongoing and schedules are typically posted on candidate’s websites.
The forum was recorded, and the video will be available on the Yountville Chamber of Commerce website.
Separately, the Yountville Sun sent a Candidate Questionnaire to candidates who had qualified as of the morning of Sept. 17. Their answers can be found in this week’s issue. The published answers, separated into three parts due to length, can be found at these links:
Yountville Sun 2026 Candidate Questionnaire – Part 1
Yountville Sun 2026 Candidate Questionnaire – Part 2
Yountville Sun 2026 Candidate Questionnaire – Part 3
