Voters on Monday will have their first chance to meet the entire slate of Lawrence City Commission and school board candidates.

The newly formed Voter Education Coalition will host its first and only forum before the March 1 primary at 7 p.m. Monday at Lawrence High School.

James Dunn, president of Landlords of Lawrence and a member of the coalition, said the event would be a general “meet-and-greet” forum where candidates would mingle and answer questions in one-on-one settings. Dunn said the candidates likely would address the crowd with short introductory comments, but there will be no panel of people questioning candidates.

“It definitely will be a communitywide forum instead of being focused on a particular neighborhood or specific issues,” Dunn said.

The event, thus far, is the only candidate forum planned before the primary. Dunn said the coalition would have three forums after the primary. He also said he wasn’t aware of any other group that had planned a forum.

The coalition plans a school board candidate forum at 7 p.m. March 8 at Lawrence High School. Two City Commission candidate forums are planned for March. The first will be March 9 at the Lawrence Public Library. The second will be March 16 at a location to be determined. Both forums will begin at 7 p.m.

The coalition was formed last year after 11 businesses and organizations came together and expressed concern that the last City Commission and school board election produced an inordinate amount of forums for candidates and the public to attend. The groups agreed to host joint forums instead of each having a separate event.

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“We think this might be a way to organize forums in a way that is not overwhelming to candidates,” said Caleb Morse, president of the League of Women Voters, which participates in the coalition.

Other groups in the coalition are AARP, American Association of University Women, Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Douglas County Farm Bureau, KLWN, Landlords of Lawrence, Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, Lawrence Home Builders Assn. and The World Company, which publishes the Journal-World.

Nine candidates have filed for three at-large position on the City Commission. Voters will narrow the field to six candidates in a March 1 primary. The general election will be April 5.

Four candidates have filed for three at-large spots on the school board. No primary will be held for the school board.