Election season draws near in Lincoln Heights; are we ready for it?
“What is this?” was my first question on seeing the notice in my mail.
The notice asked residents to file for candidate positions in the upcoming Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council Election.
Open positions include: President, Secretary, Community Business Representative, two Community Based Organization Representative, Area 1 Resident, Area 2 through 6 At Large, and Area 7 Resident, are all four year terms.
Now this is the first time I’ve seen a notice about our community’s election. And to my surprise, this is perhaps the first time ever that I’ve seen a local election that generously welcomes almost anyone who is interested and who lives in the community to file for a candidate position.
Doing a little research (punching in Lincoln Heights Election and 2012) into a Google search, (and wanting to see what’s the big deal about) I found a handful of candidates already lined up for the election.
Most of the listed candidates are indeed residents, who have diverse life experiences, and all possess a vision to improve the community all according in their statement in the Empower L.A. website. I’m disappointed at the site’s lack of providing more information on each candidate’s biography, other than what they’ve provided for each candidate’s statement, which gives voters and participants limited information on each candidate.
With the lack of information, and seemingly an unpredictable turn out for the election, it seems almost unbearable to learn that winning candidates or representatives of the Council who will have authority to decide where and how funding from the City of L.A. will be used in the community (depending on the candidate’s obligation and interest) may under represent the rest of the residents in the community.
In order to remove or reduce any doubts in one’s mind, it will be fitting to form a forum where the candidates can engage with the public and have one’s questions and concerns address in person.
The Official Council election in Lincoln Heights will take place Saturday, October 13 at 2323 Workman St. (at the Lincoln Heights Senior Citizens Center) starting 10am – 4pm.
Related links:
Official Candidate’s Statements: http://empowerla.org/lhnc/lincoln-heights-nc-elections/
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