This comes from a district I am not so familiar with so have so far stayed neutral on. I know Rock Hackshaw has been critical of Al Vann (the incumbent) and that Vann was part of the Bloomberg Putsch. Saquan Jones is one of several primary opponents for the 36th district and has sent the following call for debates to all the primary candidates:

During my pursuit for Brooklyn’s 36th District City Council Seat, I have experienced a number of twists and turns, but the one constant I have come to realize is that there are still GOOD PEOPLE out there. Regardless of presentation…good people listen, regardless of strife…good people still create opportunities and regardless of conditions…good people persevere. Recently, I started the door-to-door portion of my campaign and during this process; I have been embraced with open arms, so I will add another facet:

GOOD PEOPLE DESERVE GREAT LEADERSHIP

While studying History and Political Science in undergrad, I was taught that debates have always been the backbone of this nation’s political process, but in today’s day and age, if a candidate requests a debate, political strategists try to spin these requests by stating the opposition needs the publicity to pump energy into their failing campaign. But, what if a candidate is calling for a debate and his/her candidacy is doing very well? How does one explain that? Many political consultants would think its crazy, so with that in mind and my Turning Adversity Into Advantage campaign doing well, I am calling all the candidates running for Brooklyn’s 36th District City Council Seat (7 candidates as of 1/20/09) to a series of debates and here are just a few reasons why I am doing so:

1) Political Science 101 indicates, with so many candidates in the race, we must start to differentiate ourselves from each other EARLY or Al Vann will win based off the anti-incumbent votes being split

2) When was the last time a debate occurred for the 36th District City Council seat?

3) I have personally visited the websites of all my opponents and I have yet to read what their candidacies are about, but all of them have a CONTRIBUTE icon

a) Of course everyone is for economic development, education and crime reduction, but how do you plan on achieving that?

THIS YEAR’S DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION WILL BE AND MUST BE EARNED. Candidates of integrity and honor know this! The days of getting elected in the 36th District based off of name recognition must end!

Debates are good and, from what I have seen, often well attended events...but I can't see Al Vann joining in. Should they include an empty chair or a cardboard Vann cut out if he doesn't show?