Event Wrap Up: Chula Vista Mayoral & City Council Candidate Forum
Chula Vista Mayoral & City Council Candidate Forum
Posted: March 27, 2010 at 3:18 PM
Co-sponsored by the Chula Vista Civic Association and the Southwest Civic Association, candidates, business owners, residents, elected officials, and community leaders all gathered for an evening of "civic" proportions to bring together the year's largest Chula Vista candidate forum. Behind the scenes, the forum began with a rough start when only three hours prior to the big event, the school's director threatened to lock down the school and cancel the community's well publicized forum should the invited moderator and former Mayor of the City of San Diego, Roger Hedgecock step on stage. Admittedly, the move was based solely on differences in political philosophy. Ed Herrera, President of the Chula Vista Civic Association stood up calling the threat "discriminatory" adding "that barring Hedgecock from a nonprofit facility over differences in political philosophy is discrimination and an infringement on Hedgecock's First Amendment rights." The San Diego Union Tribune 2/23/2010 In the end, Mr. Hedgecock felt that it was in the best interest of the continuation of the forum to withdraw:
"I'm not running...It's more important to have the candidates, to have the candidate forum...to get the voters to see the candidates for city council and get informed...The MAAC Project...were able to overcome the...folks who wanted to exercise democracy in their community, because what happened was when I withdrew trying to make this thing better, The Star News Editor said: we're withdrawing our sponsorship. It was very unfortunate... It was an attack on democracy...I thank...these wonderful folks, Ed Herrera and the Chula Vista Civic Association (CVCA), for standing up for me..."- Roger Hedgecock, The Roger Hedgecock Show 3/23/10
Nevertheless, Mr. Hedgecock's humbling act of stepping aside to ensure that the forum would proceed for the betterment of the voters would not go in vain as the Chula Vista Civic Association**, Southwest Civic Association, candidates, and community did not allow the "attack on democracy" to persevere in shutting down an opportunity for the people to learn about the candidates and the issues. "If a group of Chula Vistans wants to sit down and talk about their community, I'm going to be there," said mayoral candidate Steve Castaneda addressing the capacity crowd of Chula Vistans.
Forum Participants included: City Council Seat # 2 candidates* Patricia Aguilar, Larry Breitfelder, and Humberto Peraza, City Council candidate for Re-election Rudy Ramirez, and Mayoral Candidate Steve Castaneda. The video of the forum is proudly provided as a public service by Chula Vista Civic Association, in order to assist Chula Vista voters in making informed, educated decisions.
The Chula Vista Civic Association extends a full-hearted thanks to all its members, forum attendees, candidates, Mr. Ken Wright, and its co-sponsor.
Note: *City Council Seat #2 candidate Jill Galvez did not attend due to a long standing previous engagement. Ms. Galvez sent her regards and communicated how much she would have loved to participate. (Learn about candidate Ms. Galvez)
**Chula Vista Civic Association is a non-profit, non-partisan, business and community organization. It believes the school's head had no right to ban an individual based on political philosophies on any side of the political thought spectrum, from a public school district-chartered school. The association continues to stand by that and thanks the public for its support.
