Comment by Coronado CAN! on October 21, 2012 at 1:09am

Great article Greer!  Thank you!

We loved putting on the Forum and are, of course, thrilled to be getting so much positive feedback on what was a huge risk for us in terms of the format.  Next time will be even better!

Special shout-out to:

     The Audience - who showed the style and interest you would expect in Coronado.    

     Gene Cubbison - the only non-Coronadan there.  He did a wonderful job for us.

     The Candidates - We really put them through the wringer and they never failed to give the straightforward answers everyone was looking for.  Be sure to check out our website for the tabulated results, question by question (www.coronadocan.org)

     The CHS National Honor Society "Student Assistants" - who served several long hours on a school night assisting the candidates before, during (on the stage), and after the event (completing all of the questions we didn't have time for on the stage.)

     The CHS National Honor Society "Ushers" - who greeted the audience, showed them to their seats (including the reserved seats), picked up question cards throughout the event, and in general served as wonderful ambassadors for Coronado High School, making us all proud.  (Superstar CHS Senior Maude Hoffmann is the President of the CHS NHS.)

     The CoSA Technical Theater Students, under the inspired direction of Adrian Gonzalez, who showed us their incredible capabilities to put on a "show" that they never once rehearsed.  They "own" that theater!  Special thanks to Cameron Taylor on the projectors and Synthia Hynes on the audio.  Perfect.

     The CHS National Honor Society "walkers," who helped the Coronado CAN! volunteers by delivering the last few hundred flyers to voters all over Coronado.

     The CHS Advanced Placement Government Students, under AP Gov teacher Ian Silverman, who honored us with their attendance and interest.

     Karl Mueller, Jeffrey Felix and Shane Schmeichel, who provided top level support at CHS, Coronado Unified School District, and Coronado School of the Arts respectively.

     Dr Carl Luna, who was ready to go as "Backup Moderator" should anything have happened to Mr Cubbison.

     Marilyn Rees, who entertained the guests in the foyer with her incredible piano skills while the CoSA tech crew madly wired the candidates for sound and got them ready.  (The stage was in use until 6:20 for final tech rehearsals of "Singin' in the Rain," and then converted almost instantly for the Forum before the doors opened at 7pm by Coronado CAN! volunteers.

   Tony Perri of Surf's Up Studios for HD video from beginning to end, provided gratis as a community service.

    The Coronado CAN! Volunteers--last but not least!!!--who worked through 10,000 details over the course of seemingly countless meetings to try to put on the best event possible, and executed the plan to perfection when the time came, not to mention hand delivering announcement flyers directly to the doorsteps of almost 7000 Coronado voters!

Coronado CAN! invites all residents and voters in the 92118 zip code who care about Coronado to learn about and join Coronado CAN!  All the info is on our website and everyone is welcome at our meetings in the Winn Room anytime.  Non-partisan, non-profit, all volunteer, no cost to join, no advertising, promote constructive community dialog on residential issues, serve as a conduit for information flow, never take sides on any issue. 

An informed electorate, a powerful voice, a good government, a bright future!  Coronado CAN!

Comment by Karen G. Moore on October 21, 2012 at 7:08pm

The Coronado CAN event was very informative.  I thought it was interesting that Barbara Denny's answers to questions were clearly most sensible, popular with the crowd, knowledgable and responsive to the residents and businesses here in Coronado.  I was very surprised when Mr. Tanaka seemed to waffle on some of the decisions he's made earlier - like paving over parts of the beach to serve vendors' needs - not beachgoers.  Wiwode stuck to his earllier decisions without presenting even remotely sensible defenses for his "good ol' boy" attitude.  I think Coronado voters are very discerning and the forum really helped people see where candidates stand.  Karen Moore

Comment by eCoronado on October 22, 2012 at 9:21am

You can see the results of the forum here (how the candidates voted):  http://www.coronadocan.org/forum-results--voters-guide.html

Comment by Lei Udell on October 22, 2012 at 9:41am

Nice article, Greer.

Interesting forum. Thanks for putting it on, Coronado CAN.

Comment by Amy Langerman on October 22, 2012 at 2:24pm

I must respectfully disagree with the assessment by Karen Moore above.  Casey Tanaka waffled on nothing. I may not have agreed with everything he said, but he was direct, answered each question, and told you what he thought so that you could assess his positions.   He was the only candidate who had the courage to call out the wording on the "Blight" question (which many in the audience agreed was a poorly worded question that was simply wasting time based on the legal definition of "blight"). While Ms. Denny's supporters, including rude hecklers, felt compelled to yell out and waste time on what was a question that was simply poorly phrased (and which did not result in any disagreement by any candidate because it was such a silly question), it showed us an important side of these two candidates.  Casey Tanaka did not get mad, did not lose his cool, despite being rudely treated by one of Ms. Denny's supporters and stated what should have been obvious to everyone -- this was just a poorly written question on a non controversial topic.  The organizers were not perfect.  His solid stance in the face of hecklers shows the character of the man.  That isn't what we have seen from Ms. Denny in her tenure on the council. She can read a script that includes the word "consensus builder" in each answer but that doesn't make her one. I came to listen to Ms. Denny's position and to assess it objectively. It is hard to be objective when a trained lawyer has to read from scripts, each one of which had buzz words in her canned answers.  The moderator did not seek to ask the question to her directly about how she would seek to build consensus as Mayor on a council where EVERYONE disagrees with her and EVERYONE is supporting the other candidate.  Just saying you are a consensus builder doesn't mean you build consensus.  Anyone looking at Barbara Denny's voting record will see a record that is inconsistent with consensus building. At a time when our city is doing well, when we have balanced budgets and a surplus, why would we want to put such a divisive person in the helm?   My real question is this:  Why did Ms. Denny feel compelled to read every answer from scripts she brought with her?  Is she not facile with the answers well enough to be able to be contemporaneous?  She is an attorney and should be quite masterful at public speaking. What does this tell us about her preparedness for office if she has to read scripts in answers to questions that should, by now, be pretty obvious.  You can not live in Coronado and fail to understand that budget, building, traffic and weddings are the issues and she read a canned answer for each question aimed at these issues.

Comment by Dr Rumack on October 22, 2012 at 4:43pm

Councilwoman Denny gave a calm, rational position for all her answers, Mayor Tanaka outright refused to answer two questions and was the only one to object to the questions.  The heckler only started after his refusal to answer a question.  All other candidates answered every question without a fuss.  He's an elected official, if he doesn't like a question from the public, he can always defer as others did, but to get petulant in front of the crowd and Mr Cubbison...well, it was not Coronado's finest moment.   Ms Langerman may have noticed that Ms Denny has very different positions than Mr Tanaka.  If you look at the candidate responses on the Coronado CAN website, you will see there are real differences between candidates - but only Tanaka supporters say Ms Denny is divisive.  Actually only a small number of votes on council were 4-1 with Ms Denny dissenting, and Ms Denny led the way on several positive measures, but the other councillors seem intolerant of anyone not sharing their opinions on many issues.  With Ms Denny, what you are seeing is someone who has a genuine difference of opinion on those issues with other current members of the council.  Her responses were not read from a script, what you heard was she actually has a PLAN to recommend for our various problems.  If Mr Tanaka is your idea of a great mayor, you may not be used to that.  She and her supporters have a different vision of how council should work for us and what the city should do for its residents.  When government is not working for its citizens, then dissent is a constitutive virtue of a democracy.  5-0 votes don't necessarily mean the public wins.  A lot of Coronado residents have had enough of monster homes, lot-splitting, watered down zoning rules, weak code enforcement, city lawsuits against its own citizens and multi-million dollar juggernauts like that Tunnel.  The way we got like this was EVERYONE on council (except Ms Denny) thought those were great ideas or refused to enact the recommendations of the various city commisions.   Ms Denny has made her comprehensive positions very clear on each of the topics, they are easily found on her literature and website.  Mr Tanaka has not published a position on many issues, indeed the answers he gave Thursday night, what he has said in the past and what is published on the Coronado Can site today are already different.   For example, Thursday night every candidate except Mr Tanaka stated they do what they could to prevent the imposition of any parcel taxes, but it took until today for Mr Tanaka to agree with that it seems.   Apparently the forum procedings were recorded on video, I have slight hope we'll see an unedited version of that tape.  If you still have questions about Ms Denny, give her a call.  She is known to many Coronadans as the only councillor who returns phone calls. 

Comment by Karen G. Moore on October 22, 2012 at 4:51pm

I've met Any Langerman and discussed several issues about education with her so I know she's smart and an attorney.  But....I'm going to respectfully disagree with Amy Langerman's comments regarding the excellent CAN forum for candidates. It's no secret I'm supporting Barbara Denny for Mayor but here are some of the reasons:   Mr. Tanaka refused to answer two questions by calling them "dumb" and "stupid".  What kind of teacher calls any question "dumb" and "Stupid" at a public forum?.  Tanaka's belligerent refusal to answer the question "Will you do all you can now by reducing spending in order to avoid the necessity of a parcel tax in the future?" was totally unprofessional.  His contentious remarks and fights with several residents when he arrogantly refused to answer the question"Do you think it was ethical to declare the entire city of Coronado blighted in order to form a redevelopment agency and receive additional funds?" was disappointing.   He shouted defensively about redevelopment and behaved like a bully.  He interrupted the moderator Gene Cubbison and took over the forum speaking completely out of turn.  He wasted everyone's time with his self-serving, grandstanding temper tantrum.  One of the residents in the audience called out to Tanaka, "You were a bully in high school and you're being a bully now."  Another resident in the balcony seats called out to Tanaka, "So areyou going to answer the question or not?"  Tanaka never answered the question, but lied and angrily shouted "I did answer it."  In short, Tanaka was contentious, talked too long and out of turn because this wasn't a time to talk - just to answer the question with a colored card; insulted the residents who wrote the question by calling it "stupid" and wasted the other candidates' time and the audience's time. I stand by my original statement.  Karen Moore

Comment by Amy Langerman on October 22, 2012 at 5:41pm

Well, Karen -- as an attorney, I can tell you that the question "Would you do all that you can now by reducing spending in order to avoid the necessity of a parcel tax in the future" was an incredibly poorly phrased question and tells the public nothing about how the candidate feels about spending reduction or parcel taxes.  It "assumes facts not in evidence" - e.g. that the logical response to NOT reducing spending is a parcel tax.  As a person who has debated for a career, with lawyers, judges and witnesses, it is not reasonable to try to pigeon hole ANY of the candidates into making gratuitous platitudes when the question is just poorly phrased. One of the reasons why the presidential debates work is that there are questions that are well phrased and even the public questions are screened so that you can truly test the candidates positions. You ask "who refuses to answer a question because it is stupid?"  Shouldn't we want an elected official to be able to speak candidly, and openly and honestly?  When that question was asked, I turned to the woman next to me, who was clearly a Denny supporter, and before any candidate had answered, I said, "That is a stupid question".  I had great respect for Casey Tanaka refusing to answer something that could not be answered AS WRITTEN and for providing a comprehensive answer so that the public KNEW his position on the "blight" question - the SAME position that EVERY OTHER CANDIDATE ALSO HAD.  No one challenges the city for complying with the legal definition of blight and accessing revenues to make our city better. IT was a NON CONTROVERSIAL question that told us nothing about the candidates other than that Barbara Denny filled the room with her supporters, some of whom were rude to the process.  Casey's volunteered response was because the heckler demanded an answer and he could NOT answer the question as phrased because it was a poorly phrased question.  Does it tell you who he is?  No.  Do I necessarily agree with everything he has to say?  No.  Does he support parcel taxes?  I have no idea what he has publicly stated but I would be flabberghasted if he or ANY of the candidates said that they support parcel taxes.  Asking a candidate -- "will you try hard to reduce spending" is a useless question that again, tells us nothing.  I think the idea of the forum and the rapid fire responses was a good one.  But that doesn't mean all the questions were great.  No one is trashing the candidates who wanted to put up two answers.  No one is trashing teh candidate for putting up yellow to mean "I have no opinion".  Instead, we are trashing a candidate NOT for his views but because he refused to answer a question that in no other forum would have ever been asked and when his opponent's vociferous supporters started heckling, something that is incredibly disrespectful, he gave the answer that EVERYONE OF THE CANDIDATES supported and candidly, I suspect NOONE in Coronado would seriously question what was done, LONG before Casey Tanaka was Mayor.  So, we can agree to disagree about their positions, that is what debates are for.  But, my initial concern is still a matter of VIDEOTAPED EVIDENCE.  Barbara was reading her answers.  They were scripted.  The mayor is the person who speaks for the citizens at public events, on TV, etc. She isn't going to have cue cards when the reporters are interviewing her about the next big event that befalls Coronado (think of the mansion murder interviews, etc). You have to be able to speak on your feet, eloquently, professionally, and logically.  Does she really need a script to answer questions.  She had her reading glasses on for heavens sake.  This was a time to connect to the people, and she read from scripts.  As an attorney, a member of Barbara's profession, I was personally disappointed that she felt compelled to read her answers. NO OTHER CANDIDATE read from scripts.  NONE OF THEM.  I find this troubling.

Comment by Terry Loerch on October 23, 2012 at 3:10pm

I'm sorry but Amy Langerman I'm amazed that you would support  Mayor Casey Tanaka when you are a disabled advocate and an "attorney".  Barbara Denny was the only one  in the group at the forum that mentioned improving Coronado for the disabled. I didn't hear Tanaka say anything about the subject.  As an old high school acquaintance of Tanaka and a disabled individual,  I know he is ignorant  when it comes to our
needs. I have spoken with him personally about the issue and he wasn't interested in the subject.  Barbara Denny understands our needs and as a advocate and "attorney" I'm surprised that you would support a man that doesn't support ADA laws in Coronado.  I find this troubling.

Comment by Buzz Fink on October 24, 2012 at 9:01pm

Casey Tanaka gave the correct answer by not answering what was a misleading and poorly written question.  Its like asking someone to answer yes or no to the question "Have you always beat your wife"?  Yes means you do beat your wife.  No suggests you haven't always beat your wife but have in fact beat your wife.  The only answer to that is not to answer it or to elaborate in detail like Casey did.  For the record, I did not vote for Casey last time around.  I was wrong.  Casey has done a fine job and I am proud to have him as Coronado's Mayor.  Casey has earned my vote!

 

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