Ten candidates running for elected office in National City will make their first public pitch to voters at the National City Chamber of Commerce’s Candidate Forum.
The event from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 6, will allow candidates to highlight their campaign platform as well as field questions of importance to the National City Chamber of Commerce.
Co-chairs Karen McManus of Banner Bank and Nick Inzunza, former National City mayor, put together questions for candidates pertaining to economic development, business development, workforce development, civic engagement and leadership development.
Members of the public can also submit candidate questions to thechamber@nationalcitychamber.org subject line: candidate forum questions. A committee will review the submitted questions to possibly incorporate them into the forum.
With National City Mayor Ron Morrison being termed out of office, the mayor’s seat is up for grabs. Competing for the open seat are current City Council member Alejandra Sotelo Solis, City Treasurer Mitch Beauchamp, Planning Commissioner Ditas Yamane and resident Daniel Perez.
Six candidates are competing for two council seats. Incumbent Mona Rios, current mayor Ron Morrison, city employee James Kim, Jose Rodriguez, businesswoman Sherry Gogue and Candy Morales are competing for those two council seats.
“We have candidates who haven’t been engaged (in politics) in the traditional sense of serving on boards and on commissions,” said Jacqueline Reynoso, National City chamber president and CEO. “Others have been pretty active in politics and some have lost before and are trying again.”
Reynoso said all the candidates have confirmed their attendance at the forum.
Reynoso said this is the first time she can recall so many National City small business owners running for office.
She said the forum will serve as a neutral platform for all candidates.
“The purpose of this is simply for education, to educate the voter,” she said. “It’s not for endorsing one candidate over another. We will not be doing that.”
Because of limited seating capacity, Reynoso said those who are interested in attending should register for the event at :NationalCityChamber.org
As of Friday, Aug. 24, Reynoso said about 50 people have registered to attend.
There is a $5 registration fee to attend the forum. The fee is to defray refreshment costs, organizers said.
