Candidate forum a success

The New River/Desert Hills Community Association sponsored a candidates forum Aug. 8 at the Crossroads Christian Fellowship.  From the standpoint of Democrats attending, the event was a terrific success and we were delighted by the warm reception. 

We helped to attract more than 150 people. I believe the large turnout reflected an increased concern on the part of voters about our state and country.  People know that we can’t just keep doing the same old things and hope to make Arizona better, our borders more secure, or our world safer.

Our candidates clearly offered an alternative to the herd of conservatives that can’t get far enough to the extreme right.  It is comical to listen to candidates for public office list their primary qualification as “proven conservative,”

“always conservative,” or more conservative than the rest, as if that was some kind of public policy. Instead, our candidates came to discuss how to make government work harder, improve our public school system rather than dismantle it, improve our infrastructure (Can you say highway gridlock?), protect our environment, protect our remaining open lands through intelligent land use and other positive ways to make Arizona a better place to live. 

Obviously, Interstate 17 was a big topic of discussion.  Most of the Republican candidates were eager to take credit for possibly moving up the construction schedule, but none of them were willing to remind voters of the poor planning that resulted in this mess, nor that it is the result of a long string of Republican‑dominated legislatures, as well as a lack of support from our congressional delegation. But when we elect representatives that only focus on cutting taxes, we get the unintelligent and shortsighted planning that creates the mess I‑17 has become.  We need elected officials that will consider the future. This year, those candidates are Democrats.

It was a great night and a great start to this election season, and we are confident that our candidates stood out as the ones with a vision.

Don Vance

Anthem