The Palisadian-Post and Palisades Podcast to Host CD 11 Candidates Forum

By LILY TINOCO | Reporter

The Palisadian-Post and hosts of the Palisades Podcast—Maryam Zar and Steve Cron—invite the community to virtually meet the candidates running to represent Council District 11, which spans from Del Rey to Brentwood, Venice to Pacific Palisades and beyond.

The forum will be on Thursday, April 28, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Candidates who will be in attendance include Palisadian Allison Holdorff Polhill, Traci Park, Mike Newhouse, Greg Good, Erin Darling, Jim Murez and Mathew Smith.

“The forum, which will be held virtually so voters from across the district can have easy access to the event on April 28, will come at a crucial time when voters will begin to see ballots in their mailboxes in early May,” Zar said about the event. “The first round of voting (for the runoff election) will be in June, so we are coming into the final stretch of campaigning and this forum will be important to tune in to.”

Zar and Cron said they plan to ask specific questions that are “intended not for sweeping statements of theoretical goals, but specific responses that address the real issue voters find challenging, down on the ground and in communities across the district.”

All candidates seek to unseat incumbent Mike Bonin, who was first elected to represent CD 11 in 2013 and was reelected in 2017 for a second term with 31,865 votes, or 71%.

But Bonin announced he will not be joining this year’s race, and will not seek reelection to a third term on Wednesday, January 26.

“This position allows me to make positive, progressive change. It is a great privilege. But in the past few years, the job has forced me to focus much more of my time and energy on battling the negative instead of creating the positive,” Bonin said. “It is very difficult to walk away from a third term, and the work we have been doing together, but I need to listen to my heart.

Now, residents of CD 11 have an important decision to make—And the opportunity to hear from Polhill, Park, Newhouse, Good, Darling, Murez and Smith at this virtual event; the issues they plan to address and their strategies to address them.

“Attend this forum from the comfort of your laptop or tune in with friends. This candidates forum is not to be missed,” Zar said.

To register, visit palipost.com/?p=92531.

Community members are encouraged to submit questions in advance by visiting the registration link, or by emailing lily@palipost.com.