Updated on 9/27/17
The four candidates vying for Sonoma County Sheriff will meet in the first public forum for the June 2018 primary on Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The event is free and begins with a 30-minute reception.
Carlos Basurto, Mark Essick, John Mutz and Ernesto Olivares, who seek to replace the legacy of former Sheriff Steve Freitas and current Sheriff Rob Giordano, will have an opportunity to introduce themselves to the public and engage in the most important issues at stake in the election. A fifth candidate, Jay Foxworthy, who had been expected to attend the debate, dropped out of the race for sheriff on September 27 due to family medical issues.
The forum will clarify the candidates’ policy positions and introduce their breadth of knowledge and experience in many categories, including leadership in public safety, accountability, detention, immigration policy, civil rights, community relations and oversight.
The event moderators will be Michael Allen, a former state assemblymember and Mary Watts, a community activist. For those who cannot attend, it will be broadcast live on Facebook. Those interested in following the forum and conversation about it can also search for the hashtags #socosheriffforum and #socoraceforsheriff.
The forum is hosted by a collection of organizations, including the North Bay Labor Council, Coalition for a Better Sonoma county, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Service Employees International Union 1021, Wine Country Young Democrats, North Bay Jobs with Justice, Sonoma County Latino Democrats, Comite VIDA, Health Professionals for Equality and Community Empowerment and the North Bay Organizing Project.
Read more about each candidate here: http://www.sonomawest.com/who-s-running-for-sheriff-in-sonoma-county/article_e4769a82-9324-11e7-bedd-c3294408a160.html.
