Arizona Gubernatorial Forum Set for October 17 at Mesa Community College
Phoenix- October 10, 2002

Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC), East Valley Partnership (EVP) and Salt River Project (SRP) Public Involvement Committee today announced a non-partisan, Gubernatorial Candidate Breakfast Forum scheduled for October 17, 2002. The event will feature Barry Hess (L), Richard Mahoney (I), Janet Napolitano (D - invited), and Matt Salmon (R) in a discussion of important issues facing the State of Arizona.

The breakfast forum will be held at Mesa Community College with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. Arizona Republic editorial writer, Richard De Uriarte will serve as event emcee. A three-person panel, representing each of the sponsors will question the candidates about issues of business development and retention, solutions to the state's budget deficit, and the state's role in education, telecommunications infrastructure, drought planning, and electric deregulation. The gubernatorial forum is expected to draw a live audience of approximately 300 business leaders from across the state.

Toll-free dial-in audio conferencing will enable live statewide participation and the event will be videotaped for distribution to public access stations as well as webcast by streaming video in easy-to-use download segments made available by Kino Digital Communications by October 21. The webcast of this forum will join the streaming media from an earlier Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Candidates Forum, ATIC's platform statements and the candidates' responses to questionnaires online at http://www.arizonatele.com/atic/election/ through the election and beyond.

About ATIC: The Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council is a foundation of the Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development (GSPED). ATIC functions as Arizona's recognized and authoritative organization guiding technology policy development, serving as a leading source of information and expertise on telecommunications and information technology matters. ATIC develops, promotes and supports initiatives and guides adoption of effective public policies that encourages wide-scale deployment and availability of telecommunications services and information technologies to insure economic prosperity fro the Arizona community, expand the region's global competitive advantage, enable continued educational advancement and support an enhanced quality of life. ATIC website at http://www.arizonatele.com/atic/ or call 602-254-5887. ATIC Elections Committee content is online at http://www.arizonatele.com/atic/election/.

About EVP: The East Valley Partnership is a coalition of civic, business and political leaders representing the eight East Valley cities and surrounding Indian communities. Its mission is to improve the business environment and quality of life in the East Valley. To that end, the Partnership has a rich history of making substantial contributions -- from building freeways to building hospitals and power plants. Since the early 1980's, the Partnership has been dedicated to promoting economic development in the East Valley and actively leads efforts in areas such as regional transportation, aviation, education, smart growth strategies, tribal issues, healthcare funding, and sports development. The Partnership has nearly 300 members actively united as a boldly visible entity representing the East Valley communities. Membership is open to those living, working or having a business interest in the East Valley; individual and corporate memberships are available.

About SRP PIC: Salt River Project Political Involvement Committee is a registered political action committee representing the interests of Salt River Project employees, Board and Council members and their families.

About Kino Digital Communications: Kino Digital Communications creates and customizes Streaming Media solutions for a variety of applications, including sales and marketing, human resources, and corporate communication needs. Kino's end-to-end service philosophy encompasses everything from concept development, production, and comprehensive management and delivery systems. Kino's start-to-finish service offers a full range of cost effective solutions including: Video and Audio Production; Live and On-Demand Webcasting - Planning, Production, and Delivery On-Demand Global and Domestic Streaming Media Hosting; Encoding; DigitalDirect™ - Targeted Email Delivery of Streaming Media; StreamSafe™ - Affordable Security and Digital Rights Management Kino Conferencing - Customized Corporate Communications Solutions; Comprehensive Reporting Web Design and Development; Flash & Animation.

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Contact: Mark Goldstein, Secretary, Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council (ATIC), Voice & Fax: 602-254-5887, markg@researchedge.com