The 17th District Assembly race briefly came up at our meeting on Saturday. A group called Together SF is holding a forum on homelessness between candidates David Campos, Bilal Mahmood, Thea Selby, and Matt Haney this Wednesday, January 12 from 7-8pm, hosted by SF Chronicle columnist Heather Knight:
Even though we don’t have a Libertarian candidate in the race (and I’m not sure any of these particular Democrats are worth supporting as marginally better than the others, although I’m unfamiliar with Bilal Mahmood except for a flier I got in the mail), we can still participate and (with luck) make our voices heard, or at the least become more familiar with the establishment candidates.
Feel free to weigh in beforehand with the organizers too, as I did, to support having Q&A, etc., as part of the event (see correspondence below).
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
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From: Starchild for SF! realreform@earthlink.net
Date: January 7, 2022 8:54:59 PM PST
To: Rob Aiavao rob@togethersf.org
Cc: hello@togethersf.org, Starchild RealReform@earthlink.net, Bilal Mahmood info@bilalforassembly.com
Subject: Re: Question about “Head-to-Head on Homelessness: AD17 Candidate Forum - Livestream”Hi Rob,
Thanks for your reply. Just a tentative “depending on time” plan doesn’t sound very promising however. Given the short time frame, it seems unlikely any such chance for audience participation will materialize unless there is dedicated time set aside in advance for audience questions.
I encourage TogetherSF to allow people to ask questions directly, town hall style, without having to write them up in advance or have them pre-screened by the moderator. I have to say a “forum” also sounds potentially less interesting/informative than a debate; if they are just up there largely agreeing with each other, or differing only on the margins while not revealing any major, substantive differences of opinion, that won’t do much to enlighten the public or convince eligible voters their choice matters.
I did reach out to Bilal Mahmood’s campaign (the other three are more familiar to me), but never heard back from anyone.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
On Jan 7, 2022, at 10:34 AM, Rob Aiavao wrote:
Hi Starchild,
Depending on time, we will try to ask a few questions from the audience.
We have designed our questions to be as helpful to attendees in determining actual differences between the candidates. As someone who’s attended quite a few of these, I definitely want to make sure this hour is as productive for attendees as possible. I do want to point out that we are using a forum format as opposed to a debate format.
If there’s any questions you have for the candidates, feel free to let me know and I can share it with our moderator. I also encourage you to reach out directly to the campaigns. They’re usually more than happy to respond back with answers, or potentially even chat on the phone.
Thank you!
Rob
On Jan 6, 2022, at 23:10, Starchild for SF! realreform@earthlink.net wrote:
Will voters be able to ask questions directly of the candidates? I strongly urge that this be allowed. Otherwise, especially if there are no tough questions from moderators, it will likely be just listening to politicians flap their gums, and most people probably have better things to do. Also, an hour really isn’t enough time for a solid debate between four candidates.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
P.S. – How about polling the audience and letting people choose “None of the Above” as an option?
Hello Together SF,
I have a question about…
Head-to-Head on Homelessness: AD17 Candidate Forum - Livestream
Head-to-Head on Homelessness: AD17 Candidate Forum - Livestream · Together SF