On Feb. 12, the third candidates’ forum for the San Joaquin Board of Supervisors District 3 position and the Area 5 San Joaquin Board of Education seat was held at the Dawn Mabalon at Delta College. The primary for the election is on March 5.
The last half of the forum, planned to feature Area 5 candidates Jordan Giannoni and Greg Clark, was canceled because Clark was not in attendance.
“There are only two candidates,” said the director of the League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County, Suzy Daveluy. “Unfortunately, one of the candidates couldn’t make it,” said Daveluy.
The first part of the forum was for the candidates running for the District 3 Board of Supervisors seat: Angel Sepulveda, Sonny Dhaliwal and Steven DeBrum.
“It was a nice setup,” DeBrum said of the event. I got to say everything I wanted to say. However, I wished they would’ve asked about education. Because that’s very important, education is the start of growth of where we want to be. We start today to make a better tomorrow.”.
The candidates were asked by panelist Layla Alaswad, a member of the Delta Politics and Law Club, about how they would build consensus and work with the other supervisors.
“Consensus is absolutely necessary,” said Dhaliwal. “We respect each other and everybody should share their perspective. I’m here to work with you and I’m here to learn with you.”
“Part of consensus is showing up,” said DeBrum. “I work with many organizations and have been supported by them. I’m still part of five different boards, and we make sure we give back to the community. And I will always help and be part of the community.”
“All three of us might disagree on a lot of different issues,” said Sepulveda. “But there is a lot of respect between the three of us. If three of us ran the board, we would make a lot of things happen. But that’s not the case here.”
Panelist Aaron Leathly, from the Stockton Record, asked how the candidates “plan to effectively communicate with and include citizens.”
“We’re gonna look at all individuals, doesn’t matter where they’re at,” said DeBrum. We’ll have monthly meetings, whether it’s in Manteca, Lathrop or Stockton. We need to communicate via social media, get the word out on a newsletter. Whatever we have to do.”
“I want an open-door policy,” said Sepulveda. “I want to make sure we are there for our citizens, for our community and meet them where they’re at. I want to be very specific on the office hours at the county. Public comment only gets 2 minutes and it’s a little bit intimidating for people to voice their concerns. We all know what 2 minutes feels like, right now.”
“People need to trust and to believe in he or she who is running,” said Dhaliwal. I am the most accessible mayor in San Joaquin County. When people need help with an issue, it’s important to answer in a timely manner. When you deliver what you promise that keeps their trust in you.”
The event was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County, Delta College, the Business Council of San Joaquin County, the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, CSU Stanislaus (Stockton campus), the African American Chamber of Commerce, San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Central Valley Asian American Chamber of Commerce, NAACP and the Stockton Record.