March 13, 2022 – Upfront and personal, Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe has agreed to be interviewed live at the inaugural Newsmaker Interview Series to be held at Santa Fe College Monday, March 14, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lyceum Concert Hall. The event is presented by the professional journalists of Mainstreet Daily News, the growing Gainesville-based publication dedicated to fostering a strong sense of community in the markets it serves.
“It is only fitting to kick off this exciting series with the mayor of the city in which we were founded,” said J.C. Derrick, publisher of Mainstreet Daily News. Derrick promises a lively discourse on the current and projected issues facing the region in an informal atmosphere. “We’ll get to know Mayor Poe better, as well as explore the challenges he faces. We’ll hear about his hard-earned lessons in leadership, followed by questions from the audience,” he said.
Upon completion of his current term, Mayor Poe will be Gainesville’s longest-serving elected mayor. He served twice on the Gainesville City Commission after attending local public schools and earning degrees from UF in both history and education. He went on to teach economics and government for nearly 20 years at SF, where the first two Mainstreet Newsmaker Interview Series events will take place.
Publisher Derrick, event moderator, was recruited in a national search by Mainstreet Daily News to deliver trustworthy community-based reporting that informs and inspires. A former Capitol Hill reporter, such notables as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio are among his prior interview subjects.
For its second newsmaker event, Mainstreet has scheduled Florida Supreme Court Justice Jamie R. Grosshans for an April 14 interview, also at SF’s Lyceum Concert Hall.
Free and open to the public, seating is limited to allow for social distancing. Tickets for both the March and April events can be reserved here with a limit of four per reservation.