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An official with one of the unions responsible for organizing Thursday evening's political forum in Hillsboro has responded after controversy arose following the announcement that certain local candidates would be skipping the annual Litchfield forum in favor of Hillsboro's.

"Unfortunately our event conflicts with another forum, which was not brought to my attention until after the invitations to the Working Families Forum had been sent out," Springfield and Central Illinois Trades and Labor Council President Diana Carlile said in an email. The council is co-hosting the event with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Laborers Local 1084 and Carpenters Local 270.

When asked why the unions declined to merge their event with the Litchfield Chamber's, Carlile claimed that from a logistical standpoint, she and the other union organizers "could not see a realistic path to consolidate the events since they were in different towns," and that there would have been only a week and a half to communicate the changes to the participants.

Even after the President's response, questions about the conflict still remain. Earlier this week, Litchfield Chamber President Cory Evans said invitations for their event were sent out in August. However, some of the candidates participating in the Hillsboro event claim they did not receive an invitation until as recently as last Saturday, while some attending Litchfield's say they were notified at least a month ago.