9:45am | Candidates for the City Council 5th District seat will participate in a public debate tonight at Eldorado Restaurant (3014 Studebaker Dr.) beginning at 7:00pm. A panel of local journalists from the Long Beach Press Club will present the candidates with questions, and questions from the audience are also encouraged.
Incumbent Gerrie Schipske is chasing a second term in the city’s largest district, but faces opposition from Mike Hedges, the president and CEO of Pacific Striping in Signal Hill.
Topics that figure to be discussed at length tonight include infrastructure issues such as streets and sidewalk repair, noise and other issues at the Long Beach Airport, relationships with local businesses and the continued effort to locate a movie studio or Tesla Motors production plant at a vacant former Boeing production site.
Earlier this month, Hedges earned the endorsement of former Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell and former 5th District Councilmember Jackie Kell, whom Schipkse defeated for the seat in 2006. Schipske also has earned a long list of endorsements, and was recently named the executive director of the Orange County Democratic Party (though she told the Press-Telegram last week that there are still salary issues to be settled). Learn more about Schipske at her campaign website here, and more about Hedges at his campaign website here.
The Long Beach Press Club has held weekly debates between candidates for office in this April’s election, and the lbpost.com is a proud participant. I will be a panelist during tonight’s debate, and hope to see you there!
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