Bless their hearts. I love and respect the Glendale Women’s Club (GWC). My Mom was a member of the GWC for over 25 years. They are a well respected organization within our community.
Times have changed and so should they. On July 24, 2014 the GWC held its biannual Candidates’ Forum. They hosted eleven candidates. Think about it. There are 4 candidates each in the Barrel, Cholla and Ocotillo districts. All were there with the exception of Reginald Martinez who could not get time off from work. It’s too much already!
They wanted to keep the Forum to a reasonable length of time – no more than 60 to 90 minutes. They allotted each candidate an opening minute and a closing minute. That exercise alone consumed 22 minutes. The result was that there was very little time to ask questions of individual candidates. The candidates’ responses to questions are critical to draw distinctions between them. But there was no time…no time to probe…no time for follow up. I would humbly suggest that the GWC institute a new system when there are so many candidates. Perhaps they could conduct two forums or a forum for each district…perhaps held in each of the respective districts? Something has to give. The present forum no longer works.
Early ballots for the Primary Election are being mailed now. If you signed up for voting by Early Ballot you should receive it sometime in the first week of August. If truth be told early voting totals will decide the races in all three Glendale districts. Yes, there will be some voting at the polls but there will not be enough numbers to offset the results of early voting.
Each candidate deserves a “thank you.” It is never easy to put yourself in front of your peers to be judged by them while asking for their vote. It is a humbling experience and one of satisfaction if you are still standing after the Primary. Then the real work begins and the most difficult aspect of all is for each candidate to communicate the critical distinctions between himself/herself and the opponent. Good luck to all of the candidates.
With 4 candidates in each district the chances of one candidate securing 50% + 1 are very difficult and we can expect to see run offs in every district at the General Election. In two of the districts – Cholla and Barrel – voters do have legitimate choices. In the Ocotillo district there is but one choice. Here is a recap of this blog’s choices in each of the districts:
Cholla district:
- Van DiCarlo
- Lauren Tolmachoff
Barrel district:
- Randy Miller
- Bart Turner
Ocotillo district:
- Bud Zomok
Voters it’s up to you now. Do your homework. Take the time to find out your candidates’ positions on Glendale’s major issues. Please do not do what so many ill informed voters do and that is choose the first name in the list or choose the name you like the best. Be careful for whom you cast that precious ballot. Your city’s future viability is riding on your choice.
© Joyce Clark, 2014
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