State Senate debate cancelled State Senate debate cancelled (February 06, 2004)

Diaz claims legislative conflict

By Grace Rauh

The Adobe Building should have been packed with Mountain View residents sizing up state Senate candidates Manny Diaz and Elaine Alquist last Tuesday night.

The two Democrats from District 13 were scheduled to debate hot issues like the budget, the economy and the future of California, but a week before the event Diaz canceled, leaving the Peninsula Young Democrats -- the organizers -- in a lurch.

"I was calling to confirm and see if they needed any more information for the debate format," said Sari Wisch, the organizers' political affairs director. That's when she learned that Diaz couldn't attend the debate, due to "scheduling glitches" between his campaign office, his district office and his capital office in Sacramento, Wisch said.

Cristina Uribe, a consultant to the Diaz campaign, said the current Assembly member from San Jose had a budget committee hearing in Sacramento scheduled for the same day. The hearing was scheduled to finish at 5 p.m., two hours before the Mountain View debate would kick off, but it could have run late, Uribe said.

"It's definitely not something the Assembly member will miss. He takes those things very seriously," she said of the budget hearing.

The Diaz campaign offered to send Diaz's wife, Sandra Avila-Diaz, in his stead, but the organizers turned them down. "With the cancellation, we decided we wouldn't get as much of a draw," Wisch said.

Alquist agreed to speak at the Adobe Building, but the former state Assembly member wasn't keen on debating anyone other than Diaz himself, according to campaign manager Mary Szczepanik.

"It's not exactly a debate at that level," Szczepanik said.

According to Wisch, although the Peninsula Young Democrats do not endorse candidates, the Diaz campaign had been asking for its support for months. "So I would have hoped he would have at least come to the debate to show his stuff," she said.

The Peninsula Young Democrat sponsored a debate in Palo Alto last month between former Assembly member Ted Lempert and current Assembly member Joe Simitian, who are running for the District 11 state Senate seat. It was "very well attended and a lot of people enjoyed it," Wisch said. The group expected the same draw for Mountain View.

Coming up

Five state Senate candidates from District 13, including Diaz and Alquist, are set to appear at a free public forum sponsored by the AARP on Saturday, Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Center for Employment Training, 701 Vine Street, San Jose.

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

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