Dear Editor:
On March 22, 2001, I attended what was supposed to be a Mayoral/Council forum sponsored by the ACORN association. First of all, a forum is an assembly for the discussion of public matters where people get to hear the ideas and opinions of the candidates running for public office. That it was not!
A forum is a gathering where people in the audience get to ask a question, and from the answer form an opinion of their own. That it was not! Instead, what I attended that night was an arrangement of persons hiding to make an attack, also known as ambush.
The mayoral/council candidates expected to be questioned in a respectful manner and they expected to answer respectfully. Instead what they got was 1) pressured to sign a document sponsored by the ACORN association. 2) disrespect by the members of ACORN. 3) disrespect by Mr. Darrin Martin, President of the New Jersey ACORN association. I watched as Mr. Martin stood and told Councilman Cavanaugh to sit down and be quiet and that this was their forum and not his. I watched as the moderator chose specific questions from the audience questionnaire that were meant to embarrass some of the candidates.
Finally, I watched what was supposed to be a forum turn into a shouting free-for-all as the forum went totally out of control.
Although some of the candidates did not care how this so-called forum was conducted, others had great concerns about it and left in protest. I applaud those who did. I will never again attend any meetings, forums, or ambushes that the ACORN association will hold in the future. ACORN should change their name to ANUTS and keep Mr. Darrin Martin as the head nut.
Danny Wenzel