Last night’s Faith In Action Ministry Candidate Forum presented by St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Encinitas was noteworthy for a couple of reasons.
First, it allowed Deputy Mayor Kellie Hinze, Councilmember Tony Kranz and me to discuss, in depth, our thoughts and actions on the crucial issues of housing, social justice and homelessness in our city.
Secondly, the three opposing candidates dropped out of the event at the last minute. Reasons posted today on social media indicate that they were unhappy with the questions provided to them a day in advance by the hosts, and they didn’t have sufficient time to prepare their answers.
All I can say is that many forums don’t provide advance questions at all, and if you’re elected, you’re expected to respond instantly to all manner of questions – you’re not allowed downtime to study for the test.
In their absence, the St. Andrew’s hosts responded by quickly reformatting the forum and simultaneously posing the same probing, thoughtful questions to Kellie, Tony and me. As a result of the extra time created by the opponents’ absence, we were able to respond thoughtfully to the questions and to each other.
Here’s a link to a home computer-recorded video of last night’s St. Andrew’s remarkable candidate forum (seen above). It’s out-of-frame and there’s a brief edit at 21:27. I’m linking to this version until the official one is posted, then we’ll link to that one. Until then, I thought you might like to view it despite its imperfect state.
I think it was one of the most remarkable forums yet. The lack of negativity, accusations and simplistic arguments gave us, and the viewers, a rare chance to get real during a time when hype and antagonism often eclipse the truth.
If you’re interested in understanding more about who Tony, Kellie and I are as people, what we believe, what we’re passionate about, and what we’re doing to address these daunting problems, I’d definitely recommend watching.
Viewers did miss the chance to hear how the other three candidates would have responded to those same questions, and that’s a shame.
Tonight, Tuesday, October 13, the Coast News Clean Campaign Forum is scheduled from 7pm to 9pm. Like last night’s event, tonight’s virtual forum is designed to include all four city council and both mayoral candidates.
Whether the other three candidates show up tonight remains to be seen, but you can bet that Tony, Kellie and I are ready to roll!
Stay tuned!
You’re invited to join us this Monday, October 19, from 7p-8p for the Encinitas Candidate Forum, a moderated Q&A session with Deputy Mayor Kellie Hinze, Councilmember Tony Kranz, and me that we’re jointly presenting.
Join us this afternoon at 4pm for our contact-free door drop!
Every Tuesday and Saturday though October 31, we’re gathering to distribute door hangers for the three candidates shown above, plus Supervisor candidate Terra Lawson-Remer. It only takes a couple of hours and it’s actually a lot of fun!
Please consider signing up for a shift or two. We hope see you there.
As things heat up, we need your help
We’re working to get the word out as our campaign heads into an intense sprint for the finish line. If we can get enough contributions, we’d like to send out a new mailer to Encinitas residents outlining what we stand for and why we need to continue our work together.
Please donate if you can with a contribution of up to $250 ($500 per couple). And my sincere thanks and appreciation to those of you who have already helped!
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I am so appreciative of your support. As always, your energy and encouragement is essential to our success!
In service,
