The following release came in from Bill Dalati’s Anaheim City Council campaign last night:
Anaheim, CA — Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Assemblyman Jose Solorio, Councilwoman Lorri Galloway, the Orange County Labor Federation, the Democratic Party of Orange County and the Orange County Young Democrats have endorsed Bill Dalati for Anaheim City Council.
“I am honored to receive countywide endorsements,” Dalati said. “With such tremendous support, I’m looking forward to winning this race to make Anaheim a better place for everybody.”
Dalati, a successful entrepreneur and community leader, has developed a keen sense of understanding the needs of our community at the local level, while having the vision to address issues at a more regional level.Â
Among his goals as a Councilmember, Dalati will work to strengthen the local economy through business growth and attracting investors to create good-paying jobs in areas such as Anaheim’s tourist attractions and industries. Dalati also plans to enhance public safety and traffic, provide relief to the economic challenges our city is facing, and increase access to higher education for Anaheim’s children.Â
To learn more about Bill Dalati’s campaign for Anaheim City Council or to find out how you can help, please visit www.dalati4anaheim.com. You can also “Like” him on Facebook and Follow him on Twitter.
Dalati may have picked up endorsements, but last night he LOST respect from anyone in the room at the WAND Candidates’ Forum. The man overshot his one minute closing statement, and would not sit down and shut up after being repeatedly told by the moderator that his time was up. I have never seen anything so rude at a forum, ever. Made the NUFF bloggers forum look civilized. Bill Dalati is not ready for prime time.
Dear Cynthia and Anaheim residents,
I want to take a moment to apologize for running well over my time in trying to wrap up my comments in what was a very short forum with 9 candidates. I apologize if I offended anybody; I care deeply about Anaheim and the issues it’s facing.
As you know, Cynthia, I’m a nice guy, but I’m not a career candidate. I was thrown off base by the many questions on Little Arabia, despite there being issues much more important than a marketing idea being sought out by a few community members. Since many of the questions raised on the initiative were directed to me, I’d like to take a minute to clarify my stance.
I believe in assimilation and bringing the Arab American community into the fabric of Anaheim’s civic life – whether it’s volunteering at the Civic Center, painting over graffiti or joining PTA boards. Further, there is no point in supporting a specific business district if there’s no investment occurring in the region. The last thing I’d want is for the city to designate a special district and leave it neglected. Also of importance is that, if elected, I wouldn’t be able to vote on the designation since I own businesses on the corridor.
Sorry Bill, but Anne is right. Your grandstanding did not play well. You may be a nice guy, but I am not voting for nice, I am voting for individuals who can represent the city with dignity and conduct a civilized meeting. Your behavior shows you are clearly unprepared to do that very essential part of the job. You went far beyond wrapping up, you kept going for many minutes beyond your time, on what appears to be a race based rant, and were repeatedly admonished by the moderator. You embarressed everyone in the room, especially your hosts. If something as basic as a question regarding the potential expenditure of public money to benefit a small group of special interest investors threw you off, how will you handle the pressure of a City Council meeting? Mr. Dalati, you blew it, rather publicly, and if this is the best the Dems can do in Anaheim, Republicans will be seeing a jump in registration. So I guess I might thank you….
Mr. Dalati, I was at that meeting. only ONE question was asked of you specifically and you did not answer the question. It asked what 3 improvements would you make to the Brookhurst corridor. Everyone on the West side of Anaheim knows the Brookhurst corridor is run down and needs improvement. Instead of answering the question, you railed about your ethnic heritage, groused about the plight of Arabs in America and loudly proclaimed how American you believe you are.
You spoke to the audience as if we were bigots. The Little Arabia project was common knowledge of over half of the candidates present and all spoke about it not just you. You admitted being one of the prime architects of the plan.
Grow up Mr. Dalati. Grandstanding about your ethnicity will get you nowhere with the residents of Anaheim. What can and will you do for EVERYONE, not just the Arab population you seem so willing to serve.