Saratoga News

News

Questionnaires help groups select candidates to endorse

By Shannon Burkey

As city council candidates gear up for the upcoming elections, community groups and organizations are doing some work of their own, gathering information on the candidates in order to decide which ones to endorse.

Groups such as the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters and the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors began sending out questionnaires to each of the candidates in the different races in the county as soon as the official date to file for candidacy had passed.

Since these organizations will endorse candidates, the questionnaires are a way for them to get an idea where each candidate stands on the issues that will affect their organizations.

"We try to endorse as many candidates as possible and cover as many races as possible," said Melissa Hippard, chapter director of the Loma Prieta Sierra Club. "There are a mix of questions. Most are standard across the board, then there are some specific to the area."

Although Hippard said not all candidates are necessarily interested in participating, her organization generally receives about 98 percent of their questionnaires back.

"We owe it to the community to be upfront with everyone and to answer all questions presented to us," said Saratoga council candidate Marilyn Marchetti.

Paul Cardus, government affairs director of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, said his organization, like Hippard's, has been sending questionnaires to the candidates in different races for awhile.

"There are a lot of different issues that we inquire about," said Cardus. "The three main issues our members look for when choosing a candidate is someone who will promote and protect homeowners, defend property rights and represent the business interests of our members."

While the questions from the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors run the gamut, according to Cardus, Hippard said the Sierra Club's questions focus more on the environment.

"We are looking for a candidate with a record of good environmental decision-making," Hippard said. "Environmental leadership is probably the No. 1 criteria for us. We want a candidate who has demonstrated environmental leadership in the past and will bring it with them in their candidacy."

Professional organizations are usually the main groups sending out the questionnaires, but concerned citizen groups have also taken to soliciting the views of council candidates through questionnaires in order to make their endorsement decisions.

A group of about 30 Saratoga homeowners, unhappy with decisions the current council has made, put together a collective questionnaire that was sent to all six candidates in the Saratoga council race.

"We felt like we have had so much happen in the city, not really in the spirit of Saratoga, that we had to try and find out if the candidates were in tune with the homeowners or with special interests," said Saratoga resident Cheriel Jenson, who put the questionnaire together.

Jensen said she and the rest of the homeowners in her group plan to help the candidate who is most in tune with the group's views get elected by raising money, sending out mailers and spreading the word.

"Because we work so hard, we want to make sure our efforts go to the person we feel is the best candidate," Jensen said.

The questionnaire will not answer all the questions about the candidate the group has, Jensen said, but if a candidate chooses not to fill it out, she said it makes them wonder why.

The majority of the candidates said they have no problem filling out the various questionnaires because, since they are running for public office, it is their obligation to share their views with the public.

"If someone wants to know about me and is concerned about Saratoga, it is their right to know what my views are," said Saratoga council candidate Jim Sorden. "Plus, getting in writing what my views are could be helpful down the road."

Of the six council members who received the questionnaire from the group of Saratoga homeowners, four filled it out and sent it back.

Council member Kathleen King, who is running for re-election, said the only reason she did not fill hers out was because the questionnaire gave no indication of where it originated.

"I respond back to so much stuff," King said. "But I can't fill out something that doesn't say who it is from, where it is going or what it is being used for."