With burritos in hand, first-time voters and veterans alike listened to speakers from CalMatters, Stocktonia, and San Joaquin Delta College on Monday afternoon discuss the importance of civic engagement in the upcoming election.
The local California news organizations and San Joaquin Delta College hosted VotingMatters: Ballots & Burritos at Delta College to educate residents and students about ballot measures in the upcoming election.
This event was the first of several forums taking place this week at the community college.
CalMatters Partnership Manager Dan Hu gave a brief rundown of the nonprofit news organization’s voter guide and YouTube channel, which hosts one-minute videos explaining each statewide proposition on the November ballot.
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Hu highlighted several propositions, providing a brief explanation and outlining the differing views of each piece of legislation. Attendees were then encouraged to talk in breakout groups to discuss and debate the merits of each proposition, followed by a show-of-hands vote.
Stocktonia Executive Editor Scott Linesburgh and Assistant Editor Cassie Dickman offered a primer on local races and highlighted the issues most concerning readers, such as homelessness and local government accountability. They also discussed Stocktonia’s nonprofit news model and plans to cover the local elections, including surveying readers on the issues most important to them and using residents’ questions to guide candidate interviews.
Stocktonia recently collected data via a reader survey about what residents are the most important issues, which included local legislation such as measures L and N. Linesburgh also highlighted Stocktonia’s ongoing political coverage, which will include local candidate interviews over the next few weeks.
“It doesn’t matter what your political party is. It doesn’t matter what you say. It doesn’t matter who you are associated with,” Linesburgh said. “We are going to invite you and ask you questions.”
The candidate forums will continue this week:
- Sept. 24, with candidates running for State Assembly District 13, San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors District 1, and State Senate District 5 attending the event from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- On Sept. 25, people will get a chance to meet and hear from candidates running for City of Stockton Mayor City Council Districts four and six. This event will also begin at 6 p.m., with the last event starting at 7:30 p.m.
- The last forum will take place on Sept. 26, covering the Stockton Unified School District Area District 4 starting at 6:45 p.m.