Candidates vying for the position of City of Los Angeles 5th District council member will participate in a public forum at UCLA today preceding the March city elections.
Vincent Wong, the assistant director of UCLA Government and Community Relations, said six candidates are running for the 5th district seat, which includes UCLA in its constituency and is currently held by Jack Weiss.
The forum is open to students and there will be a small reception at 5:30 p.m., which will give those in attendance an opportunity to meet the candidates in a less formal setting.
“This is an excellent opportunity for students to get an inside glimpse of the minds of the candidates of the 5th district,” Wong said.
The forum, co-sponsored by UCLA Community and Government Relations, KABC-TV and the Southern California Gas Company, will be in the California NanoSystems Institute Auditorium at 6:30 p.m., he added.
The candidates will each be given an equal amount of time to address questions posed by the moderator Adrienne Alpert of KABC-TV. The questions will relate to local issues, including transportation, public safety, environmental concerns, economic issues and land development, he added.
Many of these issues affect the quality of life and experience of UCLA students, Wong said.
Katherine Hennigan, the president of Los Angeles County Young Democrats, said she is excited to see a vigorous upcoming city election.
“The candidates’ forum at UCLA is an important opportunity for young voters to voice their opinions and concerns directly to the candidates who will represent their district for the next four years,” she said.
Jesse Melgar, the external vice president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council who was greatly involved with encouraging students to vote during the recent presidential election, said he thinks it is important for the student body to engage in local elections as well.
“The City Council is giving direct attention to UCLA because of the students’ increased involvement in politics, especially after the 2008 election,” he said. “If students turn out in the same numbers as the 2008 election, the voice of UCLA could be significant.”
The forum will be broadcast on KABC-TV and LA36.
The candidates, Adeena Bleich, Ron Galperin, Paul Koretz, Robert Schwartz, Robyn Ritter Simon and David T. Vahedi, will all be in attendance.