Santana: OC Voters Deserve Election Debates
Local politicians are experts at avoiding public debate – especially during election years.
Leading candidates and the special interests that back them increasingly roll their campaign dice on a one-way conversation with voters, overwhelming local mail boxes, YouTube videos and Facebook pages with political junk mail.
Ask yourself – regardless of political affiliation — whether that’s the best way to vet local leaders we expect to ethically manage billions in federal, state and local taxes aimed at protecting our collective quality of life?
That was my challenge earlier this month to a coalition of Orange County nonpartisan, nonprofit leaders gathered together just after the Primary election with public interest lawyers, media leaders and OC Registrar of Voters officials to talk about the walk up to November’s General Election.
Orange County needs real debates.
Face-to-face, real time public discussions among candidates on hard public policy issues.
Nonprofit leaders strongly applauded the idea – a similar reaction to when I presented this challenge last fall while addressing the League of Women Voters conference in Irvine.
Yet all these civic leaders – many volunteers – acknowledge how tough it is to get leading candidates to commit to debates.
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