Long Beach Mayor candidates to square off on environmental issues

English: Montage of Long Beach pictures that I have found on on Commons and that I have taken (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Brian Hews

Candidates running for Mayor of Long Beach in the upcoming 2014 election will be attending a candidate forum focused on environmental issues on Thursday November 21st at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

According to organizer Gabrielle Weeks, all of the hopefuls who will be running for Mayor will be invited to participate.

The Long Beach Municipal Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

The candidates who have filed documents with the Long Beach City Clerk expressing their intentions to run are Damon Dunn, Jana K. Shields, Gerrie Shipske, Doug Otto, Robert Garcia, Kareem Muhammad, Richard Camp, Bonnie Lowenthal and Steve Mozena.  Candidate Suja Lowenthal announced recently that she will not be a candidate for Mayor, opting to run for a seat in the State Assembly instead.

The doors open to public at 6:15 p.m. on the night of the event, so they can mingle in the Aquarium with the candidates and discuss issues. The forum will begin at 6:30.

“The Sierra Club advocates air and water that is safe for us, better public transportation, renewable energy, water and energy conservation,” Weeks told Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper.

“We all know that Green Collar Jobs are growing, also a clean community influences a corporation’s choice to site an office in Long Beach or to go someplace where their employees will have better health,” Week said,

The Sierra Club has partnered with several other environmental groups including Surfriders, The Long Beach Greens, Green Long Beach, Long Beach Grows, Shift Long Beach and Coalition for a Safe Environment.