Why Jerry Dyer should attend Fresno mayoral forum. It’s not about disproving critics
It’s pretty easy to criticize Jerry Dyer for stiff-arming a mayoral candidate forum hosted by faith and social justice organizations whose efforts are centered in Fresno’s southern, poorer half.
The part of town whose citizens, voter registration numbers show, are more likely to fill in the ballot bubble beside Dyer’s opponent, Andrew Janz.
Pretty easy because of Dyer’s own campaign slogan. “One Fresno” — which Dyer says he came up with himself — serves as his de facto pledge to be a mayor who will bring together the disparate parts of this sprawling city.
You don’t need to be Aristotle to take the next logical leap.
How can a mayoral candidate claim to be about “One Fresno” when he won’t attend a public forum put on by groups that represent and give voice to those in our community whose needs have long been ignored by city leaders?
That very question, more or less, is the one being raised by Dyer’s critics on Facebook and Twitter. Janz even went so far as to call him “afraid.”
Hmm. There are plenty of adjectives that could be used to describe Fresno’s longtime former police chief: Polarizing. Formidable. Devout. Charismatic. Teflon.
Afraid? Nah.
Rather than criticize Dyer (or call him a scaredy-cat), I’ll opt for the opposite approach and encourage him to attend the #Fresno4All Mayoral Candidate Forum co-hosted by Faith in the Valley, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability and Fresno Building Healthy Communities.
The forum, originally scheduled for Thursday night at Fresno City College, has been rescheduled to Feb. 13 at St. James Episcopal Cathedral.
Dyer originally accepted the invitation, only to change his mind two months later. When I asked him why via email, Dyer first cited a conflict with another forum sponsored by a veterans group to be held on the same night.
Since our correspondence, the #Fresno4All Mayoral Candidate Forum switched dates. So at least theoretically, Dyer could attend both.
Concerns about forum’s objectivity
The scheduling conflict wasn’t the only reason, though. Better let Dyer explain in his own words.
“My team and I had received information that was very concerning about those who would be attending the forum and whether the forum could be held in an objective and non-disruptive manner,” Dyer wrote.
“I will not go into details or who provided this information other than to say it came from multiple trusted sources.”
In a letter to Dyer urging him to reconsider, organizers pledged they “are committed to an objective, respectful space for voters — especially new and infrequent voters — to hear from the candidates themselves on issues that are important to them and to decide for themselves on their own voting plans.”
The 2020 Fresno mayoral race could end up more sprint than marathon. If any candidate receives 50 percent of the vote in the March 3 primary, November becomes a nonfactor.
Meaning there isn’t much time for voters to hear the candidates discuss the issues and display their fitness for office. One of the best ways to do that is to get them in the same room answering questions. In all likelihood, the #Fresno4All Mayoral Candidate Forum will be the best attended of any held during this election cycle.
I suspect that Dyer’s people, confident of their guy’s chances to sew up a quick victory, figure there’s nothing to be gained. The last thing they want is some disturbance that could be captured on camera and utilized by Janz or some third party in a negative campaign ad.
Tight race for Fresno mayor
However, a recent poll by GV Wire (a Fresno news website owned by developer and Dyer donor Darius Assemi) shows Janz and Dyer in a near dead heat. Maybe that’ll change the thinking inside Dyer HQ.
It should. While Dyer’s critics like to portray him as the personification of everything that’s wrong with Fresno, that depiction fades when seeing and hearing him in person. Dyer is an effective communicator with a personal touch. When discussing issues such as homelessness and poverty, his answers are detailed and reasonable.
Who knows? Dyer may even be able to change some minds, or at least soften some stances.
Don’t take this as an endorsement of Dyer, nor a call to ignore the numerous skeletons in his closet. I’m not doing either of these things. Rather, I’m simply encouraging Dyer to attend the #Fresno4All Mayoral Candidate Forum — for his benefit and the benefit of voters.
Dyer may be able to get elected without widespread support from Fresno’s poorer half or working with the city’s growing number of social justice groups. But he won’t be able to govern without them.
Let’s hope Dyer and his campaign team realize that. They have more to gain from attending every candidate forum between now and election day than they have to lose.
