PUBLISHER’S NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure I am currently running for re-election as the Ector County Republican Party Chair for Precinct 312 and my daughter-in-law, Samantha Russell, is running for Ector County Commissioner Precinct 3.
To say that this local election season continues to be weird would be a gross understatement. While there are the usual races for County Commissioner and Justice of the Peace there are currently over 20 other local races on the ballot this March. Many of the races that drew opposition are seldom contested Republican seats for precinct chairs. For those readers who don’t know what a precinct chair is, you’re not alone as these officeholders usually do most of their work behind the scenes helping to run secure elections and to find candidates to run on the Republican ticket and seldom garner much attention.
As the leading source of local political and public policy news, Odessa Headlines’ political reporter, Sumiko Chadwell, began just after filing closed to attempt to schedule interviews with those running in key races. While some candidates readily agreed to be interviewed quite interestingly a number refused – often waiting until just before the scheduled interview to cancel.
To date, our reporter has interviewed and profiled Tisha Crow (running Ector County Republican Party Chair), Samantha Russell (running for Ector County Commissioner 3), Jennifer Woodall (running for Justice of the Peace 1), and Larry Robinson (running for Ector County Commissioner 1). These profiles and interviews have been well received and have been read by thousands of potential voters.
Odessa Headlines has also attempted repeatedly to schedule interviews with other candidates but these candidates have offered a variety of excuses as to why they don’t feel it important to inform voters through the crucial process of profiles and interviews.
Donna Kelm, who is running for Ector County Republican Party Chair, refused our repeated requests for an interview. In her refusal Kelm makes the unsubstantiated claim that Odessa Headlines’ reports “are not always factual”. As a news source this accusation immediately caused our reporter to respond:
In your last text message to me you said you were declining my interview request because Odessa Headlines’ reports, you believe, “are not always factual”. As a news outlet your comment is obviously concerning because we always try to get it right. If you could please provide a couple of examples of what you’re referring to I would be happy to investigate. Bottom line with Odessa Headlines is that if we reported something incorrectly we will always make the necessary corrections. I would still appreciate the opportunity to conduct an interview with you.
Seventeen days later and we’re still waiting for Kelm to provide us with any instance of where Odessa Headlines misreported any news.
I later saw Kelm at an “open to public, bring the family” event at Big Daddy’s Catfish and again asked her to do an interview with Headlines reporter Chadwell and again was thrown the accusation that Headlines’ reporting wasn’t factual. I pressed Kelm for any evidence she had of this and she quickly went silent and then moved on to other topics. I was later accused by Kelm and others in her group of “crashing” their party even though the event had been clearly advertised as open to all.
Don Stringer, who is running for County Commissioner 3, also refused our repeated requests for an interview. Stringer’s only response to our request was an email message “Who owns Odessa Headlines?”. Our reporter responded promptly directing Stringer to our “About Us” page on our website which, unlike the ownership of the local newspaper which lies shrouded in secrecy behind a series of corporations, has always clearly disclosed our ownership. In our profile on Samantha Russell we mentioned that we had repeatedly attempted to contact Stringer for an interview to which we received a comment from his campaign page:
To which we responded with the true and complete chronology of our requests for an interview:
Next up was Justice of the Peace 1 candidate Carlos Chavez. Our reporter had scheduled an interview with Chavez only to have him cancel just before the interview was scheduled to begin. Chavez provided no reason for his cancellation.
Finally, Mike Gardner who is the current County Commissioner for Precinct 1 canceled our scheduled interview just hours before it was scheduled. Gardner, in a text message stated “I have decided to decline the interview today. I have decided it would not be in my best interest. Mike Gardner”
In addition to refusing what would typically be considered routine requests for interviews and candidate profiles it seems that many candidates’ reluctance to provide information about themselves and to answer voters’ questions has now spread to candidate forums. Candidate forums have been a staple of election campaigns for decades but now, it seems, many candidates have decided it’s better not to meet voters or answer questions.
Monday night the Ector County Republican Party hosted a candidate forum for all candidates for County Chair and Precinct Chair candidates. This forum was scheduled several weeks ago and all candidates who had filed for this position were invited to participate. The forum was moderated by local radio personalities Marc Christian and Eliel Rosas.
While the forum drew considerable attention and a sizable crowd, noticeably absent was County Chair candidate Donna Kelm and nearly all of the candidates that she has endorsed and supported. Of the almost twenty-five candidates on the Kelm ticket only two joined their opponents on stage to answer questions. Nearly all of the Ector County Republican Party endorsed candidates were on-hand and these candidates spent nearly two hours answering questions and engaging the many voters present. The candidates in attendance also spent nearly an additional hour after the forum meeting the crowd and answering more questions.
Some of Kelm’s group stated that they weren’t able to attend due to a conflicting event at another venue but it should be noted that this event was planned after the invites to last night’s Republican Party event were distributed. One has to wonder why Kelm’s group would schedule an event after they were invited to participate in a forum that has been traditionally held by the Republican Party for many years.
One of Kelm’s chief ring leaders took to social media in an attempt to explain away her group’s refusal to participate in the Republican Party forum and aired a series of unsubstantiated claims against the Ector County Republican Party. It seems that the forum – hosted by two neutral radio personalities – would have been the perfect place to discuss their grievances but it appears they felt a Facebook post was a more appropriate place for them to fuss.
Kelm, Chavez, and JP 1 Candidate Steve Brennan also skipped the West Odessa forum held Tuesday night at the Premier Ballroom. This forum was hosted by local journalist Danny Berrara and local business owner Filiberto Gonzales. Once again, candidates were provided ample opportunity to address a nice crowd of voters and again decided to hide instead. Certainly no one could argue that there was any bias by the forums’ organizers.
The bottom line?
When candidates dodge and refuse interviews and when they refuse to participate in candidate forums where questions can be asked voters have to assume that either they have something to hide, that they feel like their skills or knowledge are inadequate to answer any questions which might be posed, or that they simply believe that voters shouldn’t have access to them to ask questions. Whatever the reason, voters should carefully consider these factors and should never vote for a candidate who refuses to provide adequate information about themselves or to answer any question put to them.