As a mother and a professor, I teach my children and students that playing fair and being honest is more important than winning any game or getting an A on an exam. I hope that in the upcoming Malibu City Council election, everyone will follow these golden rules. It is my sincere hope that we all learn from what happened during the Malibu CAN candidate forum to insure that forums in the future are fair, and so those charged with conducting the forums can avoid any appearance of impropriety. Two weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a Candidate Forum sponsored by Malibu CAN. I agreed to participate and was told that the rules governing the forum would be e-mailed to me at a later date.
On Monday, Feb. 2, all of the candidates participating in the forum received an e-mail from Steve Uhring of CAN outlining the agenda and procedures. This e-mail informed the candidates that they would be given a 4- minute opening statement, and then each candidate would be asked “four or five” questions” from a collection of questions that was gathered by the CAN membership. During the course of the CAN Forum on Feb. 4, 2003, it appeared to me that some candidates had been given information regarding the questions that were being asked at the meeting. I had not been given any information regarding the questions other than the fact that we would be asked four or five questions.
When asked whether any of the candidates had been given the questions ahead of time, Steve Uhring denied that anyone had been given the exact questions. He did, however, admit that he had met with two candidates over the weekend prior to the forum to discuss the “issues in general.”
When participating in a public forum, all candidates should stand on a level playing field. If any candidate has prior information regarding the substance of the questions or any information regarding the questions, then this exact same information should be shared with all candidates in the same time frame. We must all work together to insure that all the candidates are treated equally. Anything less is simply unacceptable for our community and for democracy.
Pamela Conley Ulich