These were the state legislators that participated tonight (1st panel):
LD 25 House Rep. Pat Fleming (D)
LD 27 House candidates Sally Ann Gonzales and Dr. Macario Saldate (Ds)
LD 28 Senator Paula Aboud (D)
LD 28 Senate candidate Dave Ewoldt (I)
LD 28 House Rep. Steve Farley (D)
LD 28 House candidate Bruce Wheeler (D)
LD 30 House candidate Andrea Dalessandro (D)
LD 30 Senate candidate Dr. Todd Camenish (D), came in late

Also attending to participate in the 2nd panel were U.S. Senate candidate Rodney Glassman,
Attorney General Terry Goddard running for Governor, Sec. of State candidate Chris Deschene, and State Mine Inspector candidate Manuel Cruz, all Democrats.

Questions asked of the panelists were basically about steps they would take to improve education, to bring economic opportunity to minority populations, to strengthen public health for communities of color, to provide quality health care, and to insure equal treatment in the criminal justice system for minority populations. Being as these were all Democrats (and one Independent, formerly a Green Party activist) their answers were quite uniform in advocating and trying to restore funding to all these areas.

Of note: Sally Ann Gonzales mentioned that she is of Yaqui heritage, Chris Deschene is a member of the Navajo Nation, and Manuel Cruz and Dr. Macario Saldate are Hispanic, and provided their ethnic backgrounds and expertise to their responses.

The last question was about what steps could be taken to insure a fair and just dialogue re: immigration reform, and both Rodney Glassman and Terry Goddard said that could be done by “retiring John McCain.” Chris Deschene repeatedly asked the audience to elect Democrats to the state legislature, where he currently serves as House Rep. in LD 2.

Also in attendance tonight were former Pima County Democratic Party Chair Paul Eckerstrom for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and former Democratic Pima County Supervisor Dan Eckstrom. Fellow blogger “3 Sonorans” (David Morales) was there as well, and will be posting a video capturing the panelists’ answers to some of these questions. I’ll link to his blog once he posts it. UPDATE: Unfortunately neither David nor I got a lot of advance notice of this forum, so his cell phone video did not tape well (see his comment below).

Who filed to run for the 2 seats on this board this year? Each term is for four years. With 2 openings, these are the names below of candidates who gathered about 400 signatures to be on the Nov. 2nd ballot, by the deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday August 4th, per the office of Linda Arzoumanian, School Superintendent.

1. Dr. Cassandra Bolden, Program Facilitator (educational programs) of Tucson Urban League
2. Adelita Grijalva, incumbent board member (has served 2 terms since 2003)
3. Michael Hicks, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Manager for City of Tucson, Dept. of Transportation
4. Miguel Ortega, Council Administrative Assistant to Ward 3 Councilwoman Karin Uhlich (formerly Chief of Staff)
5. Armand Salese, J.D., attorney in private practice, ran for this office before in November, 2004

Current board members:
–President : Judy Burns (term expires 12/31/2012)
–Clerk: Miguel Cuervas (term expries 12/31/2012)
–Bruce Burke, J.D. (not seeking re-election this year)
–Adelita Grijalva, seeking re-election this year, daughter of Congressman Raul Grijalva (CD 7), who is also up for re-election
–Dr. Mark Stegeman (term expires 12/31/2012)

Good luck to these non-partisan candidates, as governing T.U.S.D. is not an easy job, with upcoming school closures and a struggling budget due to the economy. Interim Superintendent is Dr. John Carroll.

Questions about these T.U.S.D. candidates and other school district Governing Board candidates can be directed to 520-740-8451 (Pima County School Superintendent’s Office).

Photo of Dr. Cassandra Bolden not available at press time

Board member Adelita Grijalva

Michael Hicks

Miguel Ortega

Armand Salese, J.D.