CHULA VISTA, Calif. – A candidate forum was held by the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce Thursday evening ahead of the March primary election.
Residents were able to meet the people running to hold one of several postions, including city attorney and council seats in districts three and four.
“We have a lot of citizens, well over 300,000. That’s a lot of issues to handle,” Stephen Stenberg said.
It’s a crowded field for the two city council seats. District Three has five candidates running, three of which attended Thursday’s forum.
The District Four race has the community talking, as it includes incumbent Andrea Cardenas, who’s facing a number of fraud charges.
“Assuming she’s not going to get elected, I wanted to hear what the other five people are about,” Stenberg said.
The community will have to decide between six candidates.
“We need a fresh start. We need someone new,” candidate José Sarmiento said.
“I’m concerned about my family, my neighbors, the community and the direction that we are headed in,” candidate Christine Brady said.
District Four has been plagued with controversy from homelessness to Harborside Park, even before the criminal charges against Cardenas.
“We need advocates to say that we are not going to do those back door deals. We are going to make sure we are going to protect our city,” candidate Delfina Gonzalez said.
“Things that you wouldn’t see happening on the east side need to get cleaned up in this district,” candidate Cesar Fernandez said.
Each candidate had the floor for 10 minutes.
“The public safety sector in the city of Chula Vista needs some work,” candidate Rudy Ramirez said.
Community members FOX 5 spoke with were largely from District Four or a business owner in the area, with a desire to be involved in what happens next for their corner of the city.
“The homeless issue is a big one, but also what the plans are for business development in the area and revitalizing District Four,” John Fischer said.
The chamber of commerce says the forum was open to all candidates to attend, including Cardenas.