Debbie Arnold’s campaign just called her opponent ‘a chicken’
Debbie Arnold’s campaign just called her opponent “a chicken” for missing some of the candidate forums in the San Luis Obispo County District 5 supervisor race.
The incumbent’s campaign consultant, Alex Tavlian, sent out a news release Thursday afternoon criticizing challenger Ellen Beraud.
“Voters don’t want a chicken as supervisor,” Tavlian says in the releas.e. “By ducking debates, Ellen Beraud has shown she is incapable of delivering real answers about improving SLO County that don’t come from a script.”
Beraud has participated in some forums and is scheduled to attend at least four more before ballots are due March 3.
Her campaign called the comments disappointing and said she missed forums due to scheduling conflicts, but will have participated in seven by the time voters cast their votes.
“It’s unfortunate that the campaign would resort to name-calling in a situation like this,” James Sofranco told The Tribune. “It doesn’t seem to uphold the civility pledge or commitment to addressing the issues and having a fair conversation.”
He said that Beraud had existing scheduling conflicts when she was approached about the forums missed.
“The Farm Bureau gave us two dates, and we had conflicts with both. They gave the option of sending a video, which we did and it was played at the event,” Sofranco said.
Tavlian shot back, telling The Tribune that the forums Beraud chose to participate in allow her to only respond to moderator questions and not to questions directly from the community or audience.
Sofranco responded that “The forum tonight, the questions are coming from the audience. We are open to participate in any forum that the community wants to put on.”
The race between Arnold and Beraud is likely to be the closest of all three supervisor seats up for grabs, if campaign donations are any indication. The two candidates have raised the most money out of the six candidates running for the county board.
The district includes Templeton, Atascadero, Santa Margarita, Creston, and parts of San Luis Obispo.
If you want to see the candidates in person, here are your next opportunities:
- Wednesday, Feb. 5: Hosted by the SLO Chamber of Commerce at Hotel SLO, 877 Palm St., 4:30 to 6 p.m. Click here to register.
- Thursday, Feb. 6: Hosted by SLO U40 at the Madonna Inn, 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, Feb. 11: Hosted by NAACP at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2201 Lawton Ave, San Luis Obispo, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
- Wednesday, Feb 12: Hosted by Cal Poly ASI on the Cal Poly campus, yakʔitʸutʸu Hall, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:37 PM.
