Vince Wells, the president of Firefighters Local 1230, shares his thoughts on the recent attack ads and negative campaigning published by Glover’s backers :
Those of us that are on the front lines of politics and those who have done their best to stay educated on the issues and candidates running for office, recognize the need for qualified candidates. Unfortunately, depending on the seat you’re running for and who is running, many qualified people chose not to run due to money challenges and threats of nasty hit pieces.
As a voter the first step in eliminating this strategy, is to show it doesn’t work and to show it has an reverse effect. We must keep the playing field level if we want qualified candidates to put their name in the hat. In the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors race between 16 year incumbent Federal Glover and Vice Mayor of Martinez, Anamarie Avila Farias, we were warned that 100’s of thousands of dollars would be used to attack Our candidate Mrs. Anamarie Avila Farias if she ran against Federal Glover. We told her we would have her back if this was the case.
The hits are out! It’s a shame that a candidate with 16 years in the seat must resort to this, and I suggest you look at who is supporting this effort. Fortunately for Anamarie others are supporting her, but are sticking with the issues of the position. So Anamarie, we have your back as promised. “We run in to the fire when others run out”! Sorry that running against an established candidate in this county means you have to be subjected to personal attacks irrelevant to your service. We will definitely make note of those other electeds who condone this as their terms come up!
Good luck Anamarie, and We look forward to working with you once you win. I am confident that the voters of this county will not support the negative campaign styles that have plagued the state and nation which has led to so much divisiveness!