DDG MEDIA GROUP CANDIDATES’ FORUM AT DiGS BAR IN CATHEDRAL CITY

CATHEDRAL CITY, October 2, 2012 -- LGBT and LGBT-ally residents of Cathedral City had an opportunity to hear and question candidates for mayor and city Council yesterday evening at the first of a series of pre-election candidate fora.

Mayoral candidates present included incumbent Mayor Kathleen J. DeRosa and challenger Chip Yarborough.  The third mayoral candidate, John David Kauffman, failed to appear.

In addition to the mayoral candidates, incumbent council members Charles “Bud” England and Greg Pettis appeared along with challenger Stan Henry and former incumbent Paul Marchand.  Candidates “Cowboy” Mueller, Gary Figgins, and Ron Garcia were conspicuous by their absence.

Questions from the audience touched on a whole range of local Cathedral City issues, ranging from Cathedral City’s fiscal challenges to municipal infrastructure and ongoing city support for the Boys and Girls Club. 

One of the issues that drew the greatest degree of disagreement among the candidates was that of medical marijuana.  Incumbent council member Bud England and challenger (and former police chief) Stan Henry, who are generally understood to be running as a slate with incumbent Mayor DeRosa took positions opposing a marijuana dispensary in Cathedral City, with England taking a hard line, echoing the federal government’s opposition to medical marijuana.

The sharpest contrast to the extreme anti-marijuana views espoused by Councilman England came from Mr. Marchand, who spoke of the untold suffering of AIDS/HIV and cancer patients, and how so many of them have found relief through the use of medical marijuana.  The audience, many of whom had lost friends to AIDS or cancer, responded with loud and sustained applause.

A further candidate forum, sponsored by the Cathedral City Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for October 15.

-xxx-

MARCHAND ENDORSED BY THE GAY AND LESBIAN VICTORY FUND

CATHEDRAL CITY –- September 25, 2012.  Paul Marchand has been endorsed for City Council in Cathedral City by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, his campaign announced today.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund works to elect LGBT leaders to public office.  Since 1991, the Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBT candidates win election to local, state and federal offices.

“It’s a great honor to have received the endorsement of one of the premier LGBT political advocacy organizations in the nation,” Marchand said.  “At a time when more and more Americans from all walks of life are standing up for full equality for all of America’s people, this endorsement means a great deal.”

-xxx-

For further information, contact Committee to Elect Paul S. Marchand at paul@paulmarchand2012.com, or at (760) 321-1017.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD SUPPORTS MARCHAND

CATHEDRAL CITY, September 13, 2012 -- The Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest has endorsed Paul S. Marchand for Cathedral City City Council, the Marchand campaign announced today.

Marchand, whose history of reproductive choice activism stretches back more than two decades to when he was in law school, said he was honored to have the Planned Parenthood endorsement.  “At a time when a lot of people are waging war on women, to stand for reproductive choice is to stand for one of the most important freedoms there is: the freedom to own one’s own body.”

Marchand’s other institutional endorsers include, among others, the San Bernardino/Riverside Counties Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO) and the San Bernardino/Riverside Counties Building Trades Council.

Marchand, who served on the Cathedral City City Council from 2002 to 2010, is seeking a seat on the City Council in the November, 2012 election.

-xxx-

ASSEMBLY MEMBER V. MANUEL PÉREZ SUPPORTS PAUL MARCHAND’S CATHEDRAL CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN

Cathedral City, California, September 9, 2012 -- California Assembly Member V.  Manuel Pérez declared his support today for Paul S. Marchand’s candidacy to return to the Cathedral City city Council.  Speaking at a candidate forum hosted by Democratic Women of the Desert, the two-term California Assembly Member spoke of the importance of electing Marchand to the city Council.

“I am very grateful to a Assembly Member Pérez for as kind words of support,” Marchand said.  “It’s very gratifying to know that our Assembly Member remains deeply involved in the community lives of his district.”

Marchand, who previously served two terms as Cathedral City councilmember, is also endorsed, among others, by the San Bernardino-Riverside Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO), by the San Bernardino-Riverside Building Trades Council, by Riverside Community College Trustee Mark Takano, and numerous other individual and institutional endorsers.

-xxx-

VOTERS FACE STARK CHOICE IN UPCOMING CATHEDRAL CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS: ONLY ONE CHALLENGER POSSESSES THE VISION AND KNOWLEDGE TO MOVE CATHEDRAL CITY FORWARD.

Cathedral City, August 11, 2012 -- With the closure of candidate filings and qualification for the November 6, 2012, Cathedral City Council election, voters find themselves presented with a stark choice among council challengers.  Of the five non-incumbent candidates, only one, attorney and community activist Paul Marchand, has the vision, knowledge, and insight to be effective in public office.

“Three of the other four challengers have run unsuccessfully in the past, and been soundly rejected by voters on account of their extreme, ideologically driven positions,” Marchand said.  “Voters aren’t interested in candidates who offer inaccurate information, rage-driven rhetoric or culture war appeals.  In a time of significant fiscal and financial challenge to our city, voters are looking for a Council member with real knowledge and workable ideas.”

Addressing perceptions that the other council challenger is to close politically to embattled Cathedral city Mayor Kathy DeRosa, Marchand noted that his own critique of DeRosa’s performance is no secret, and that a candidate joined at the hip to such an incumbent enters the political fray not only at his own risk, but also at risk of having to account for the failures of his mentor.

“Cathedral City can’t afford, and should not accept, either do-nothing or extremist public officials,” Marchand said.  “We need pragmatic role-up-your-sleeves leadership in City Hall.  That’s my style; I’ve done it before and I’m ready to do it again.”

-xxx-

For more information, please visit the Marchand for Cathedral City 2012 website at www.PaulMarchand2012.com.

MARCHAND IS FIRST COUNCIL CANDIDATE TO QUALIFY FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT

CATHEDRAL CITY, July 24, 2012 -- Paul S. Marchand, a Cathedral City attorney and community activist, qualified today for the November 6, 2012 City Council election.

Marchand, a longtime Cathedral City resident who previously served two terms on the city council, stated that his decision to seek office had been driven by his own deep concern about the City’s direction, as well as by similar concerns expressed to him by neighbors and members of Cathedral City’s beleaguered business community.

“The city’s fiscal challenges aren’t being adequately addressed,” Marchand said.  “We have a solid voting bloc on the council consisting of the mayor and her most dependable council ally, that has been content to do nothing while the city and its residents are overtaken by events.”

Cathedral City has been adrift, Marchand added, “with no sense of long-term plan or vision.”  Worse, Marchand noted, was the fact that the city had developed no contingency plan in the event that the State of California went through on Gov. Jerry Brown’s stated intention of dissolving redevelopment agencies statewide.  “I know Jerry Brown well enough to know that if he gets it in his mind to do something, he’ll make it happen,” Marchand explained.

“We can’t afford councilmembers who remain passive in the face of serious threats to our municipal well-being,” Marchand stated.  “Somebody has to keep faith with this community.  That’s why I’m running.”

-xxx-

WELCOME!

Welcome to the Marchand for Cathedral City 2012 blog!

In coming days, expect to see news and commentary from my campaign for Cathedral City City Council, as well as event announcements and other items of interest.