PIERCE COLLEGE : Candidates Forum Attracts 300

About 300 people attended a forum and candidates night last week at Pierce College.

Members of the League of Women Voters presented the pros and cons of the November ballot propositions. State and federal candidates from five political parties were invited by the sponsoring Women’s Organization Coalition to give their views.

“It’s very important that our communities get involved in politics, especially now with the recession,” said Republican Horace Heidt, a candidate in the 40th Assembly District.

Libertarian Jay C. Wood, a candidate in the 23rd Congressional District, agreed. “The people in the audience tonight are the ones who are going to get stuck with the huge, overbearing national debt,” he said.

But some of the candidates criticized the format of the event. After the propositions were examined by Annette Hall, League of Women Voters president, the audience was invited to talk to the 15 candidates, who were seated behind tables filled with political flyers.

“Unfortunately, it was too much of a cattle call,” said Charles Najbergier, a Peace and Freedom Party candidate in the 19th Senate District.

“We should have been introduced,” said Democrat Hank Starr, another 19th Senate District candidate.

Libertarian Roy Sykes, a candidate in the 41st Assembly District, agreed. “The people walking around the tables don’t know who the candidates are.”

Starr, however, said he was delighted at the number of people attending because “these are the people that shape our nation. The people who vote are the people who care.”