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| Terrance Candell's wife is really upset |
As of this writing, the next two announced forums will only have three of the 13 candidates able to present their case to be the next Mayor of Oakland. The Sierra Club and The Oakland League of Women Voters forums have some unique, clubby, and frankly discriminatory methods of excluding what it sees as "lesser" candidates running for Mayor of Oakland.
Reportedly, from conversations with a number of candidates, the League of Women Voters wants each candidate to have donations from over 400 donors, or 427. What that has to do with being a great mayoral election candidate, I have no idea.
In the case of The Sierra Club, they're reportedly taking the same approach.
All of this has Dyan Candell, the wife of Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Terrance Candell, in a rage. Mr. Candell sent the email below this morning, and to a number of people, including this blogger.
Here it is:
Discrimination in Oakland to Keep US Out!
I received a message on my cell phone from a relative stating that a man called her to inform her that Oakland citizens voted in Rank Choice Voting in 2006 and that she now has three choices for Mayor in the City of Oakland. He mentioned Don Perata, Jean Quan, and Rebecca Kaplan in that order. The caller who was probably paid by one of them did not mention anyone else and so she did not let on that she knew that there were more, one namely, Terence Candell. She told him that he did not have any right calling people with uninformed information, and that he should do more research before calling anyone else.
Many would state that this is “politics as usual” and let it go.
How long are people going to shrug off “politics as usual” or other unfair practices that affect them? Why did people fight and struggle so hard to get to this point, where all people would have equal rights, to just settle for “politics as usual” and springboard back to not having any rights and eventually no right to vote at all. What if we were back to having a 3/5 vote for African American men and no opportunity of voting for any women at all.
Will society go back to the idea that all women should be barefoot and pregnant with dinner ready by six pm and the house spotless? Will society believe that a woman should be seen and not heard? Will society ever stop discriminating?
I was appalled by the hypocrisy of the League of Women Voters, when they methodically created strict rules for their Oakland mayoral endorsement forum on Thursday, September 23, 2010, that only allow those who have held an elected position and of course have lots of money the opportunity to speak before their forum. Mind you, this is something new.
Another group, The Sierra Club, an environmental group, decided that they would adopt the very same policy to exclude certain Oakland mayoral candidates, as well. Go figure!
The league of Women Voters Social Policy from their website states that they will "Secure equal rights and equal opportunity for all. Promote social and economic justice and the health and safety of all Americans." They also state: "That every citizen should be protected in the right to vote; that every person should have access to free public education which provides equal opportunity for all; and that no person or group should suffer legal, economic, or administrative discrimination."
The Sierra Club strongly believes that in order "To save our planet, we must change the world -Priorities must change: People must learn to live in ways that preserve and protect our precious resources. Policies must change: Our institutions must abandon practices that recklessly endanger the environment.
Values must change: Progress must be measured by its long-term value to living systems and creatures rather than its short-term value to special interests or the economy. To achieve this vision, people across the nation and around the world must speak out with a powerful voice that cannot be ignored. Aggressive grassroots action on an unprecedented scale is essential to protect our environment and our species. There is no other choice. It will require leadership that is visionary, experienced, and strong.”
What if a candidate other than their selected few wins? Will they hold a special meeting with the new mayor to discover their vision or viewpoints on the environment at that time? How stupid!
How ironic that these two organizations/foundations are based on promoting human rights, education, change, and equal opportunity in one breath and are violating human rights and the right of humans to be fully informed and given opportunity in another. They refuse to hear ideas of other citizens outside of their bourgeois, elitist political arena, snubbing the ones they deem “not economically viable”. That would be discrimination, exclusive, and divisive, right? That violates everything those organizations have documented as their missions and claim to believe.
Why? Money
Has anything changed? No
What will happen to Oakland? The same thing - "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." Crime goes up.
What does that say about the “leadership” these organizations personally invited? They want people who endorse lies, deceit, exclusivity, discrimination and elitism. If Don Perata, an Italian man, whose ancestors were once considered immigrants, not white and called derogatory names similar to black people, allowed this, if Jean Quan, a woman, who brags about her family being immigrants, who were also treated unfairly, and if Rebecca Kaplan, female, who is openly gay and whose constituency faces ongoing discrimination, stood for anything, they would disassociate themselves from this process and not allow their fellow citizens of Oakland to be discriminated against by organizations such as the League of Women Voters qand the Sierra Club for their own political gain.
To Don Perata, Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan: STAND FOR SOMETHING! Stand for something and do not attend the League of Women Voters or The Sierra Club Forums, unless they allow every candidate free and equal participation.
If you do not, you do not stand for equality, human rights, the right of every citizen to run for office or the right of the public to be fully informed.
In this city, it is politics as usual when 2000 churches exist and people are scared to come to our city. It is politics as usual when we as labeled one of the most dangerous cities in the nation by our own media institutions. It is politics as usual when one group of people live on one side of the freeway and have their streets developed and another group of people who live on the other side and is completely ignored, other than to have vultures "land grab," gentrify and take their homes block by block. That’s what’s happening in Oakland. They want US out!
It is politics as usual to have untrained police officers on the loose with deadly weapons, deadly intentions and deadly results - murdering a mother’s child. It is politics as usual to idolize those who put money in your pockets, and your pastors’ pockets and allow the victimization of the poor to continue.
It is politics as usual to seriously look at someone as your leader, who recycles our tax dollars by way of consultant fees: "I pay you consultant fees; you give me the money back." Or people who held positions, and could have made a difference or noise about issues concerning the negative effects on the citizens of this city, and did not. They do not have real plans for the city.
Terence Candell is a man who will stand up and speak out for the citizens of Oakland, ALL citizens. If you want a person who is only interested in their own personal gain, you have three choices above.
If you want someone who will work for the citizens in the City of Oakland and not special interest groups, such as the elitist League of Women Voters and the elitist Sierra Club, then Vote for Terence Candell on all three lines for a definite change in Oakland, for ALL citizens.
Until then, this blatant discrimination must end. Please join us in fighting discrimination and divisiveness in our city.
They plan to continue with politics as usual!
Do you honestly like politics as usual?
Contact the League of Women Voters and the Sierra Club and tell them "Hell No!"
It's clear The League of Women Voters and The Sierra Club are taking the wrong approach, but I'm starting to think their impact will be minimal. The way to blunt what they're trying to do is to have a real forum that gives each candidate in the Oakland Mayor's Race a platform.
Stay tuned.
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