..and how!
Doug B. brings up a good idea to track which candidates went to which forums and which were no shows.
I’ll need help from other people to help fill these out, because I didn’t make it to a lot of them. Only 3 for me. An “X” means that the candidate attended, an “O” indicates they did not, and a “-” indicates the candidate was not invited (such as for the Democratic Club forum which was for Democratic candidates only). As suggested by posters an “/” will represent partial attendance.
| Doug deHaan | Beverly Johnson | Kenneth Kahn | Pat Bail | Ash Jones | Frank Matarrese | Mike Rich | Lena Tam | Eugenie Thomson | |
| AIA/BASE | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Associates Students at College of Alameda |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| League of Women Voters | X | X | X | O | X | X | X | X | X |
| Alameda Democratic Club | X | X | – | – | – | X | X | X | – |
| Alameda Architectural Preservation Society | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| PSBA | X | X | O | O | X | X | X | X | X |
| Chamber of Commerce/Board of Realtors | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| City of Alameda Employees | X | / | X | X | X | X | X | X | O |
| Renewed Hope | X | O | X | O | X | X | X | X | O |
| CLASS | X | X | X | O | X | X | X | X | X |
| Alameda Firefighters and Police Officers | ? | ? | ? | X | X | X | X | X | X |
| Kiwanis | X | X | X | O | X | X | X | X | X |
| Rotary | ? | ? | ? | O | X | X | X | X | X |
* I was informed that the Crosstown Cafe was not actually a forum, more of a meet and greet.
Many thanks to City Council Candidate Mike Rich for helping to complete the roundup.
Blogging Bayport Alameda 
Don’t forget the Chamber of Commerce/Board of Realtors forum. All mayoral and council candidates attended.
I remember one question about eminent domain and Doug deHaan pronounced it “intimate domain.” Think about it.
I know, I’m awful.
Comment by Linda Hudson — October 25, 2006 @ 12:28 pm
What about “partially attended,” as in “showed up but did not answer questions”? That would be Beverly Johnson, Crosstown.
Comment by NIMBY — October 25, 2006 @ 12:41 pm
NIMBY has a point. How about a “/” symbol for “partial attendance”? This would include “showed up late” or “left early” (more than just a few minutes, that is).
Comment by Michael Krueger — October 25, 2006 @ 1:00 pm
Oops, I just noticed the lowercase “x” for “partial attendance” — this is very hard to see, though, so a more distinct symbol would still be a good idea.
Comment by Michael Krueger — October 25, 2006 @ 1:03 pm
Was the Crosstown Cafe forum advertised?
Comment by Irene — October 25, 2006 @ 1:23 pm
Wow, I commend all of them for going to as many forums as they have. They do have a life (or need to get a life) and other commitments and things come up which we may not know about such as Eugenie Thomson’s mother going to the hospital. Arnold would only do one debate. Those who can’t make it to every forum or answer every questionnaire, give them a little slack especially if as reported there are 2 tonight. They don’t need to sell their soul to be elected…just do what they think is best for Alameda. (In my opinion that is not the slate).
The politics here are 10 times worse than when I lived in SF which is know for everything being political…who would have thought?
I have never heard of Crosstown Cafe? (how many forum do we need)?
Comment by Joe — October 25, 2006 @ 4:50 pm
Not to split hairs, but the League of Voters held separate forums for the City Council and Mayoral candidates. The attendance is captured accurately.
However, at the Mayoral forum, Eugenie Thmson get extra credit for being the only Council candidate in the audience.
Comment by Mike McMahon — October 25, 2006 @ 5:51 pm
To be fair, the Alameda Democratic Club does not invite non-Democrats to participate in our candidate forums since we cannot endorse them.
Comment by Jim O. — October 25, 2006 @ 7:40 pm
I can’t believe Ms. Bail didn’t go to the League of Woman Voters as she is a woman and to me if I was in her position, this would have been the one to attend.
Comment by Joe — October 25, 2006 @ 8:32 pm
Mr. Kahn was invited to the PSBA forum. However he did not attend.
Comment by Robb Ratto — October 26, 2006 @ 8:56 am
This is a nice summary. It would be great if you could add the final two forums (City of Alameda Employees and Renewed Hope) to make it complete. I was able to make it to both of those. Eugenie’s mother-in-law passed away (my condolences to her and her family) so she did not make it. Ash Jones was at both, as were Doug and Ken, Lena, Pat and Frank. Mayor Johnson attended part of the Employees forum (said she had another engagement and had to leave), and so was not at the Renewed Hope forum held immediately after.
Thanks for the good work.
Mike Rich
Comment by Mike Rich — October 27, 2006 @ 10:07 am
It just occurred to me that there were an additional four forums that I forgot to mention, even though I attended those, too (wow, I need to get some rest). The other forums not listed are: CLASS (the airport advocacy group), the Alameda Firefighters and Police Officers, the Rotarians, and Kiwanis. Since those were held a while ago, I will attempt to recall who else was there but be forewarned that this may not be accurate (corrections are welcomed): CLASS: Ash, Frank, Lena, Doug, Ken, Mayor Johnson, Eugenie. Kiwanis: Ash, Frank, Lena, Eugenie (a separate forum was held for the Mayoral candidates immediately after the one for the Council candidates, but I think all three attended). Rotarians: Ash, Frank, Lena, Eugenie (it was for the Council candidates only). Firefighters/Police: Ash, Frank, Lena, Eugenie, Pat (my recollection is that this forum was only for the Council candidates; this is the one that is the most difficult to for me to recollect because it was held at the same location as the CLASS forum, so the two are mixed-up in my head.
I also recall that the reason given for Pat’s absence from the CLASS, Kiwanis, and Rotarians forums was her attendance to activities related to her son’s wedding.
Mike Rich
Comment by Mike Rich — October 27, 2006 @ 10:27 am
One final clean-up: CLASS is an airport issue advocacy group. They do not advocate on behalf of the airport; they are actually at odds with the airport side of Port of Oakland most of the time.
Mike Rich
Comment by Mike Rich — October 27, 2006 @ 10:38 am