Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Candidate Forum Video Links

A SECOND BITE OF THE APPLE
Well, we've finished with all the City Council candidate forums for this cycle.  Now it's just about how many signs are placed and stolen and how much political stuff jams into your mailboxes.  So, if you're interested, I'm providing the links to all three of the candidate forums for your viewing pleasure.  I suspect you'll be able to form some pretty solid opinions about the individual candidates as you view them.

EASTSIDE COSTA MESA NEIGHBORS GROUP FORUM
Let's begin with the most recent forum - the Eastside Costa Mesa Neighbors' Group forum conducted on October 6th at the Neighborhood Community Center.  Terry Wall produced this recording for us to view.  Only three candidates, Sandy Genis, John Stephens and Jay Humphrey, showed up for this meeting but moderator Harold Weitzberg managed to drive right on through the planned agenda and get answers to most of the questions.  In my view, this was the most informative of the three.  Watch it HERE.
 MESA VERDE COMMUNITY, INC
Next we have the forum hosted by Mesa Verde Community, Inc on August 24th.  Four of the seven candidates showed up for this one.  Al Melone, plus the three listed above.  Terry Wall also produced this video, which you can view HERE.  Former Mayor Mary Hornbuckle was the moderator for this event.
FEET TO THE FIRE
Finally, the first forum, the Feet To The Fire Forum, which was held early in the cycle, on August 18th.  Columnist Barbara Venezia and former Daily Pilot Publisher Tom Johnson were the moderators of this event.  The crew from Newport Beach Television did the video recording because the Costa Mesa City Council refused to let Costa Mesa Television televise any candidate forums.  Al Melone attended in the audience, but did not participate.  Mayor Steve Mensinger, former mayor Allan Mansoor and Lee Ramos joined Genis, Stephens and Humphrey on the stage.  It gives you a chance to see those three men early in the election cycle.  You can watch this nearly 2 hour event HERE.
LET THEM KEEP ON TALKING!
I must say that it's very disappointing that some of the candidates chose to avoid some of the forums.  The voters deserve to see and hear their views and compare them to their competition.  Then, again, the slate of Mensinger, Mansoor and Ramos seem to be running a campaign based on lies and misrepresentations, so it's easy to understand why they wouldn't want to have their views stacked against the others.  We have less than a month to go before we cast our votes - plenty of time to sort out the lies from the truth.  Fortunately, the more "Team Costa Mesa" - Dave Ellis' trio of lie-spewers - talk the more they lie.

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8 Comments:

Anonymous Casual Viewer said...

I attended one forum, and although I was not swayed to vote for him, I was pleasantly surprised about how well Al Melone presented himself and spoke about the issues. Much better than the 3 who didn't bother to show up.

10/12/2016 09:51:00 PM  
Anonymous And So it Goes said...

Too bad Melone opted to not participate in the Eastside Forum... why not, Al???

10/12/2016 11:08:00 PM  
Anonymous Heart for Costa Mesa said...

Another one-sided forum. I would have liked to hear both sides answer good questions like those asked at the Eastside and Mesa Verde forums. However some candidate's non attendance spoke loudly. My mind is made up - Sandy Jay and John have my vote.

10/14/2016 01:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

I think its pretty clear that Mensinger, Mansoor and Ramos could not stand up to the truth without exposing themselves. When faced with the truth of their prior actions they look pretty bad. I completely understand why they didn't show up. If they can't face their actions and the truth, they have no business on the dais.

VOTE FOR GENIS, HUMPHREY AND STEPHENS. They are not afraid to face the public.

10/14/2016 08:56:00 AM  
Anonymous Terry Koken said...

Geoff --

Do you have any information on the Municipal Water District of Orange County, division 4, director election? All I've been able to find, in an hour's digging, is a picture of the incumbent, and some vague references to Kelly Rowe's being an engineer, and likewise Tim Beaman. No further info seems to jump out. Any idea what's cookin'?

10/15/2016 09:20:00 PM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Sorry, nada.

10/15/2016 09:27:00 PM  
Anonymous Terry Koken said...

Thanks. No info is info.

Interesting point: on August 12, when I went to the Registrar of Voters to acquire the voter list and history for the Fairview Park Preservation Alliance, I ran into Gary Monahan and Jim Fitzpatrick, who both told me they were running for San district seats. Half-jokingly, I said to Fitz, "So, you've decided to get out of the Marijuana business?" He replied that he'd never been in it. Looking over the sample ballot, I see his name prominently featured as a "for" sponsor on measure X, the City of Costa Mesa Medical Marijuana Measure. He's listed as a board member of the Alliance for Responsible Medicinal Access. Wonder what kind of Responsible Medicine he's promoting, if not Mary Jane?

He also told me that he never posted on Geoff West's blog at one time. This was well before you started requiring real names of posters. Once you did, I noticed several gadflies' names disappeared from the posts. About six of those who disappeared had similar juvenile styles...

Jimmy Fitz never had any reason to tell me a MISSPEAKING. Maybe it was a prevarication, or a divagation from factuality. Gosh, can you believe he really told a FIB?

Keep up the good work, Geoff.

10/15/2016 10:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Terry Koken said...

I have gotten some dope on Finnegan from Robin L. She is good people, according to Robin, whose judgment I trust. She has put CM4RG yard signs up on five places. Her stand on Poseidon is a bit unclear, but a person of good will always will listen to arguments of fact and logic -- I marked her on my ballot.

10/16/2016 09:57:00 AM  

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