Eight senatorial candidates participated in a forum focusing on social issues, social policy and human services on Oct. 18. at Guam in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Lecture Hall
The UOG Social Work Student Alliance together with the National Social Workers Association Guam Chapter hosted the event.
The eight senatorial candidates included Lasia Casil, Jermaine Alerta, Clynt Ridgell, Sabina Perez, Kelly Marsh-Taitano, Jenei Aguon, Amanda Shelton and Therese Terlaje.
Each of the eight candidates gave differing answers regarding the issue of deportation of non-U.S. citizens convicted of violating a Guam law. They also gave their positions on other topics that range from sustainable land use policies in the Tumon area to increasing access to local services for veterans residing on island, privatizing the public transit system, and sex designation on birth certificates.
According to Tressa Diaz, PhD., assistant professor at the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, social work is about progressing social justice issues and working with communities that are underserved.
“We chose to host this event because we really wanted to highlight some key social work issues in the community,” Diaz said. “We also are interested in looking out for people who don’t have a strong voice, and so we were hoping that this forum would highlight those issues.”
With the rising rate of social issues on Guam, this forum was a great way to create awareness and to begin a formal discussion on the issues.
Roughly 70 to 85 people made it to the event, according to Clariann Clark, one of the student organizers from the UOG Social Work Student Alliance.
The debate was structured so that each of the eight candidates were asked a lead question. For each lead question, the candidate asked was given a three-minute window to answer. The candidates who followed were given one minute to answer the same question.
Prior to the forum, the UOG’s social work students developed a questionnaire for the senatorial candidates to assess their positions on current social issues in Guam. Using this questionnaire, the social work students selected the eight candidates. The top eight candidates who answered the questionnaire with a 75% or greater congruency were the ones selected to participate in the event.
“Grassroots is the way I like to work and so these specialized events are so important in terms of getting people to know you as a candidate,” senatorial candidate Sabina Perez said.
During the peak of campaign season, this event was the perfect opportunity to begin discussions on human and social issues on the island. The senatorial forum not only provided the candidates with the platform to voice their views, but also provided them with the means of letting voters get to know who they are as candidates.