Redondo Beach candidates in the hot seat
From parking to the power plant, political candidates are boning up on all things Redondo Beach ahead of the March 5 election.
An event scheduled for Monday, from 1 to 6 p.m., will put them to the test.
The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce is hosting an afternoon forum on Jan. 14 that will involve a moderator asking all candidates running for Redondo Beach Mayor and Redondo Beach City Council positions a series of pre-determined questions concerning a number of issues.
Each district will have its own moderator, and each moderator will represent a chamber member business.
If time allows, members of the audience will be invited to submit written questions to moderators, who will put them to the candidates.
Chamber Chief Executive Officer Marna Smeltzer said the chamber has been hosting this kind of pre-election candidate forum for over 27 years. It is the chamber’s policy not to distribute questions to candidates ahead of time, she said. Smeltzer describes the questions as “fairly straightforward” and says each candidate running for local office “should be able to answer” them.
The forum will be held at city hall.
District 1 candidates will be in the hot seat from 1 to 1:50 p.m., District 2 from 2 to 2:35 p.m., mayoral candidates from 2:45 to 3:35 p.m., and District 4 from 3:45 to 4:20 p.m.
City Attorney Mike Webb, who is running unopposed, will deliver a five minute statement from 4:30 p.m., and a “Meet the Candidates” reception will follow the whole event.
Four candidates – Dianne Prado, Jim Light, Jeff Ginsburg, and Kimberly Fine – are running for the District 1 seat. Three – Susan Kowalski, Michael Jackson, and Bill Brand – are vying for the District 2 position, and three – Jan Jeffreys, Stephen Sammarco, and Julian Stern – are going for the District 4 seat.
Four candidates are running for mayor – Pat Aust, Steve Aspel, Matt Kilroy, and Eric Coleman. The first three are currently on the City Council.
Members of the public are invited to attend the Monday forum free of charge.
The entire event will be filmed and available for viewing at www.redondochamber.org. ER