The Douglas County Republican Party is sponsoring a candidates forum at the Douglas County Library tomorrow, Monday, March 17th. I am posting this blog entry in case there are people out there who are wondering why I am not participating in the forum.
The simple answer is, I was not invited to participate in the forum. Republican candidates for Douglas County Commissioner are not included in this year's forum, sponsored by the Douglas County Republican Party.
There are several points that I want to address, to provide some insight on this issue:
* Four years ago, Douglas County Commissioners became a non-partisan position, so one could say it's a moot point for a candidate to participate in a partisan forum. However, even though the commissioner's race is now non-partisan, there are several questions to ponder.
- The Douglas County Assessor is also a non-partisan position, but a Republican candidate for that position has been invited to participate in the forum.
- One of the Republican candidates for Douglas County Commissioner is acting as the moderator for the forum. Giving one commissioner candidate a prominent role in a forum, without extending the same invitation to other Republican commissioner candidates, is showing preferential treatment to one Republican over another.
- In the past, AFTER the county commissioner became a non-partisan position (referring specifically to the 2010 election), the Douglas County Republican Party still invited ALL Republican county commissioner candidates to participate in a candidates forum at the Douglas County Courthouse Annex. Why is this year's race being treated differently than past races?
I wish the Douglas County Republican Executive Committee the best, as they continue to openly show favoritism of one Republican candidate over other Republican candidates during the May primary election. I hope that one day, the party will once again host primary election forums where ALL Republican candidates are invited to participate in the discussions.
I want to make sure that I convey factual information, so here is an update to this post.
ReplyDeleteI just learned that the Douglas County Republican Party is considering making an endorsement this year in the Douglas County Commissioner's race. This would be a "first" for the Douglas County Executive Committee.
I and the other three Republican candidates have been invited to a meeting on Tuesday. After talking with the Republican candidates, the executive committee may or may not choose to endorse a candidate for Douglas County Commissioner.
At least everything's out in the open now.