Candidates need to prepare for questions they don’t want to answer

Arthur Murrillo a candidate for Stockton City Council called me today to complain that reporter David Siders was harassing him.

Murrillo first wanted to go off the record. I declined, explaining that any conversation would be on the record, meaning it would be available for publication.

Murrillo explained that Siders kept calling him to ask for comment on an issue that Murrillo did not want to discuss.

That issue was Ramiro A. Reyes, a south Stockton activist who was arrested earlier this month at Stockton City Hall, for allegedly attempting to extort political favors from Stockton Planning Commissioner Sam Fant. In a jailhouse interview with Siders, Reyes said he lives with Murrillo and is involved in Murrillo’s campaign in north Stockton’s Council District 3.

When contacted by Siders, Murrillo referred calls to Reyes’ attorneys. Apparently Murrillo thought that was enough for Siders to stop calling him for comment on this story.

Siders’ work is far from harassment. He did not call Murrillo repeatedly during the day or at odd hours, nor did he go to Murrillo’s place of employment and wait him out. In short, he was doing what any reporter would do – go to someone connected to a story to allow him an opportunity to comment. Siders was doing reporting.

Candidates for public office should be aware that a reporter’s job is to ask for comment on a number of topics, including topics the candidate may not want to discuss. A quick example that comes to mind is former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards who became snippy when asked about his $500 haircut.

Murrillo asked me to deliver a message to Siders, which I also declined to do. I made him aware that Siders’ telephone number and e-mail are available in The Record’s print edition and at Recordnet.com.

The best way for Murrillo to  deal with Siders on this issue is to answer his questions and then move on.