All eight candidates, Pamela Comstock, Jake Fusari, Don Lane, Cynthia Mathews, Richelle Noroyan, CeCe Pinheiro, Steve Pleich, and Micah Posner, attended the forum, and Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives developed a candidates "score card" on water issues based on their performances at the forum as well as the answers they gave to a written questionnaire from the organization before the event.

Pro-desal candidates Mathews and Lane expressed frustration with the structure of the forum, which began with a half hour presentation by Longinotti critiquing the proposed construction of a water desalination facility in Santa Cruz.

Richelle Noroyan stormed out of the forum when Longinotti used his position as moderator to question the factual accuracy of statements she was making. In his October 2 column, Bruce Bratton commented on her exit, saying, "I never in many years of candidates experienced such crazy behavior Can anyone possibly imagine how she would handle herself if she was on the City Council?"

Some of the candidates seemed unprepared to discuss the topic of the proposed desalination plant, and Pamela Comstock, because of a lack of personal knowledge on the issue, declined to answer one question addressed to the group.

The exchange between Longinotti and Noroyan that lead to her walking out of the forum can be heard starting at the 43:27 point of the audio clip posted below.


For more information about the candidates, see:
https://scruzwiki.org/2012_Santa_Cruz_City_Council_Candidates

For more information about the Right to Vote on Desal Coalition, see:
http://voteondesalsc.org/

For more information about Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives, see:
http://desalalternatives.org


Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com/