AMA
Candidates Forum in Newark
By Ras H.
Siddiqui
The American Muslim
Alliance (AMA) held a Candidates Forum at the
Chandni Restaurant in Newark, California, on
Saturday, October 23. And in keeping with the
goals that this organization has set for itself
locally (as it keeps very busy nationally),
the gathering attracted candidates vying for
office on November 2 from Fremont and Union
City for a number of seats on the school and
hospital boards, City Council, and the Mayor’s
office.
L to R: Steve
Cho and Bob Wiecowshi
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Before continuing this short
report due to publication deadlines and reporter
fatigue (there were 4 events to which this writer
was invited, but only two could be attended),
it is important to mention that Dr. Agha Saeed
of the AMA had arrived back from the Eastern US
where the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights
and Elections, an umbrella organization consisting
of the AMA and several other Muslim groups, gave
a “qualified” endorsement to Democrat John Kerry
in his Presidential race against President Bush
on November 2. Dr. Saeed was at this forum and
put the most pressing question to the candidates
from the Muslim-American point of view: “As we
are talking about protecting this country, are
we also willing to protect the constitution…?”
But now back to
the local races. The Fremont Unified School
Board candidates included Nina Moore, Peggy
Herndon, Ivy Wu and Rose Wargas. These four
candidates are running for three available seats,
the importance of which can be gauged by the
fact that these positions have an impact on
the quality of education our children receive.
Eapen, Nicholson,
Danielson, Baig and Wong
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Health Care and the local
Washington Hospital Board election also received
much attention as Dr. Khalid Baig, Dr. Nicholson,
Pat Danielson, Jacob Eapen and Suzanna Wong made
their case before the predominantly but not exclusively
Muslim gathering.
The quality of local
health care received at Washington Hospital
was discussed at length.
The Fremont City
Council election received maximum attention
both on local as well as national issues. Local
issues that dominated the presentations given
by candidates Steve Cho, Rakesh Sharma and Bob
Wiecowski included the economy and jobs. Incumbent
Steve Cho said that he intended to go after
the state for shortchanging the cites, Rakesh
Sharma (graduate of Aligarh Muslim University
in India) wanted to create a more business friendly
Fremont, and Bob Wiecowski gave his “unqualified”
support against the Patriot Act. “Once you chop
away at our civil liberties, it is very hard
to bring them back,” he said.
The Fremont Mayor’s
race brought Bob Wasserman and Bill Pease to
this forum and Mark Green, running for Mayor
of Union City attended. For the Union City Council
race, Ben Elias and Jim Navarro got a chance
to interact with local voters here. That the
gathering was “Fremont heavy” was quite apparent.
In conclusion, the
AMA that has remained at the forefront of and
retained Muslim community activism in Northern
California by working diligently for the last
decade. Sister Moina Shaiq did a great job moderating
matters at this gathering. In times like these
when the activism has become more of a necessity,
especially at the local level, it is good to
note that this group has shown the wisdom to
hold a forum such as this one just before election
time. To be remembered as “The Ramadan Election”
by many of us in future, let us hope that this
time not just Muslims but all Americans show
wisdom in selecting their next leaders.
