March 14, 2025 Statement: This weekend, you’ll find me at many events around Skokie, but not at the Jewish Assyrian Heritage Club’s mayoral debate — and I want to share why. 

 

From the start, I made it clear to organizers that I’d gladly participate in a fair, civic-minded discussion. I requested an independent moderator to screen questions for bias and ensure no candidates received them in advance. Knowing this might be hard to secure so late in the election season, I reached out to Rabbi Ari Hart of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, a trusted community leader, who generously offered to fill this role. Unfortunately, the organizers rejected both my suggestion and the idea of an independent moderator altogether. Their silence on whether some candidates would receive questions in advance was also concerning. 

 

I respect the Club’s right to structure their event as they choose, and I have asked that they extend the same respect to my decision not to participate in a forum that lacks essential standards for a fair and balanced civic dialogue. 

 

For the next 18 days, I will continue to be out in the community meeting voters at every opportunity, as I’ve been doing for the past year. There are two hour-long videos online of me answering questions from community groups, and an abundance of written information on my vision and positions is available, as well. Let’s move forward together. 

 

March 16, 2025 Statement: It appears rumors are continuing to circulate about why I declined the Jewish-Assyrian Heritage Forum’s March 16 event. In the interest of being fully transparent about my decision and interactions with the event’s organizers, all our communications can be viewed here.