NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Arrested Gov Candidate to Fight Charges, Calls CA Condition 'The Real Crime'

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Laura Wells, arrested Tuesday night as she was entering the Governor debate here - although holding a ticket, said Wednesday she will fight the charges, even though the court date is set for Election Day, Nov. 2.

Ms. Wells, 62, and a financial analyst, released the following statement:

"The real crime is what's happening to California. The perpetrators of this crime include the Democratic and Republican parties who keep trading off the governorship, and Dominican University, for closing the doors to real dialogue and debate.

"California has always been special and there's no reason for it to be in the state it's in: begging Wall Street for loans, watching our schools, environment and job opportunities spiral down. I have never been arrested and I never wanted to. My comfort zone is not important. We cannot stand by and let this happen to California.

"The Titanic Parties are heading straight for the iceberg, and their leaders are busily closing the doors to the people on the lower deck. Californians are sick of the same old status quo parties. Californians recognize real talk and real solutions when and IF they hear them. This debate should have been about giving the voters a chance to hear all parties and getting the real issues on the table.

"The polls are a fraud against the voters. I received a letter that congratulated me on my primary win and invited me to the debate, if I received 10% support among California likely voters. They didn't tell me what the survey question was. If it were, 'Do you want debates with only the Republican and Democratic candidates?' a huge majority of voters, especially this year, would say 'No.'

"But the survey question asked those polled - including 2 of my supporters - was if they preferred Jerry Brown or Meg Whitman. Not Laura Wells. And then when the pollsters report the results, they still didn't say other, they say undecided. As if the only choices were Pepsi and Coke, not something we might like that's healthy, like crystal clear water, or juice, smoothies or red wine!

"There are solutions, like a State Bank for California, and fair taxes for a change. We - the middle class, lower income and even the relatively affluent - have been paying taxes. The richest 1% and 5% mega-corporations and mega-millionaires have not been paying taxes, nor creating jobs! Let's stop coddling them, and give ourselves and our kids a chance."