Menifee Valley California - This evenings City Council Candidates Forum, held at Paloma Valley High School was a huge success.

The excitement of the evening was only dulled by the logistics of allowing each of the 19 candidates a 2 minute introduction and summary. 19 candidates will be on the ballot, and at least two others have been confirmed as write-ins. Anthony Cuomo was the only write-in candidate to participate. The other candidates in attendance were Tony Amatulli, Dina Biedermann, Darci Castillejos, Dean Deines, John Denver, Wallace Edgerton, Tom Fuhrman, Ken Gaunt, Scott Mann, Louis Mazei, Marc Miller, Jason Reeves, Carol Sullivan, Jerry Stamper, Chris Thomas, Fred Twyman, Gerald Walker and Dorothy Wolons. Darcy Kuenzi was not in attendance, nor represented in the Forum.

Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone moderated the event and started by thanking Joe Dougherty for all of his efforts in bringing incorporation to the ballot. Members of the Menifee Advisory Committee were in attendance as well the captain of the sheriff's Perris station, James McElvain, and the Director of the EMWD board, Ronald Sullivan.

The format was simple and constituents were given score cards to record their own opinions. The candidates each gave a two minute introduction; a series of yes/no questions; a specific question and direct question; and another two minute closing statement. Supervisor Stone's sister, Lori Stone-Ruben and MAC member Mike Mata kept everyone on schedule with hand signals and colored prompt cards.I was impressed with the quality of the questions created by Supervisor Stone, his staff and the Menifee Advisory Committee. Skeptic that I am, I expected fluff all around, and I was very pleasantly surprised.

Candidates were asked about their specific intentions in running for office, rent control policies, City Manager salaries, traffic, rate of growth, developer responsibilities to our parks and more than I could jot down answers to. One direct question that amused me personally and had half the panel declining to comment was related to the opponents. Given that a city council needs to work as a team, Supervisor Stone asked the candidates to name the one candidate they would least like to work with. The question drew applause and surprise from the audience and some squirming from the candidates.

Another question that I applaud Supervisor Stone for asking had to do with a candidates support of a 'home town advantage'. The scenario given was a city contract open for bidding receives an outside bid of $10,000.00 and a local contractor bid of $12,000.00. Supervisor Stone asked if the local contractor should be given a "home town advantage" since the business owner paid local business fees, etc. Should they be given any advantage? The panel overwhelming said no. Considering half the candidates are members and/or officers of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce, I was surprised. I personally believe that city contract decisions should be weighted on more than just lowest bid, and assuming quality and certification wasn't in question, than advantages should be built in, fully disclosed and available for local, minority, women and disabled owned businesses. Most 'weighted' policies for government contracts are created to help level the playing field.�I'm surprised that the obvious value of local preference didn't strike home with the candidates. That's just this writer's opinion of course, but if I see contracts going to Orange and San Diego county, with NO consideration to locals then I'll not be a happy camper.

It was a very long evening, but handled as expeditiously as could be. If you missed it, please find another forum before June 3 so that you can make an informed decision. This fledgling council has a lot of great candidates that deserve your consideration.

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