With the November’s election approaching, candidate forums are planned for sites across Santa Monica for the public to hear city council and school board candidates stances on issues. With so many sponsors grappling for dates to host these platforms the following calendar sorts through the long list of area forums open to the public.
There are 15 Santa Monica City Council candidates running for only five open seats in the November 2 municipal election. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified District School District has seven candidates vying to fill the four seats left open this year with three incumbents against Four new challengers.
The Community for Excellent Public Schools and LEAD Candidate forum will host both city council and school board members at the Santa Monica public library main branch. The Sept. 27 forum runs from 6 to 9 p.m., pitting school board candidates first with council candidates starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Santa Monica Daily Press will host the “Squirm Night” on Oct. 4 from 6 to 10 p.m. It will also be held at the main library, in the Martin Luther King Auditorium. The night starts with school board, following by a Measure Y forum, and then a debate among the city council candidates.
The League of Women Voters of Santa Monica will host a candidate forum for school board candidates. The meeting is Oct. 6 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the School District Headquarters 1652 16th Street. To submit questions for the candidates in advance, e-mail to league@lwvsantamonica.org.
The forum will be aired on on CityTV, the government community cable channel for Santa Monica. The channel that airs city council and school board meetings will also air candidate interviews that will be posted online in the coming weeks. CityTV is aired on channel 16 and can also be viewed online with streaming video at smgov.net/citytv.
The Santa Monica Mirror has organized the “Hometown Forum” for the city council candidate on Oct. 11 from 7 to 8:30 p.m., also at the Main library in the Martin Luther King Auditorium. The Mirror is aggregating questions from Santa Monica organizations and citizens and posing them to the candidates. Question can be submitted to election@smmirror.com by anyone who is interested. Be sure to include your full name so we can acknowledge you at the forum. Also, please include your phone number, so we can contact you if we need clarification on your question. There will be an informal candidate meet-and-greet prior to the forum, starting at 6:30 p.m.
The Shores City Council Candidate forum will be on Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. located at 2800 Neilson way (south tower) in Santa Monica. The Shores Residents Association will sponsor the 11th candidate forum that will be moderated by Kay Devonshire.
The Concerned Residents Against Air Pollution will host a candidate forum with airport issues as the leading topics of discussion. The forum will take place Oct. 21 from 6:30–¬9 p.m. at the SM Main Library Multipurpose Room. The event is open to the public
The Jaycees have postponed a forum until Oct 18 citing conflict with other election events. The location has yet to be released.
