When I ran in 2016, I reached out to members of the “Children
First” organization to work towards bringing back a candidates’ night. I felt the voters of Lodi should hear from
the candidates and about the issues before they cast their votes.
I offered to reach out to the League of Women voters
who was organizing BOE candidate forums at the time. I offered to attend any event held on CF's
turf by their political organization. I
even emailed Councilwoman Patricia Licata at the time who was running the
Wilson School PTO to see if the PTO would be interested. Patricia Licata is their politician. I knew she would be biased towards “Children
First”. They even declined that offer.
As “Children First” is whining about not being offered
enough available dates and manufacturing every excuse possible, please
understand where it is coming from. CF
has been refusing to debate for years. CF has been refusing to attend candidate forums for years. No matter what dates were offered or what
venues, they would be NO SHOWS. The CF political organization is
arrogant. It is entitled. It believes it is above the voters of
Lodi.
I
commend the “Citizens Against Corruption” team and “Advance Lodi” for agreeing
to attend. With their
participation, they are elevating the community. Candidate forums should become an annual event
evolving into something bigger and better each year.
