By Louis Tozser
With a major election coming up in November, Inland Empire residents had a chance to hear from candidates running for offices across the region. Residents visited Trinity Baptist Church in Moreno Valley on Feb. 22 to hear a few of the candidates speak on issues in the community.
The candidates in attendance for this event were Cpl. David Serpa, Incumbent Mayor of Moreno Valley Ulises Cabrera and Angelo Farooq.
“We’re selling our future down the road, and one of the things we can do is unionize. Unionize these multinational corporations that are bleeding our communities dry with their wealth and resources. Target, Walmart . . . Starbucks,” said Serpa.
The candidates were asked questions about a variety of issues — including parks & recreation, healthcare, the construction of new warehouses across the Inland Empire — along with a variety of pressing issues that could persuade voters toward their respective campaigns. In addition, Moreno Valley is set to hold its mayoral election this year to elect a mayor to serve in the 2025-27 term, with Mayor Cabrera reaffirming his commitment to seek a second term.
“Affordability really stands out as the biggest . . . theme throughout the effort. We have the state facing an almost $70 billion budget deficit,” said Farooq.
“In 2023, crime was down in the city of Moreno Valley. We’re an outlier. In the time where in the state of California, the country, crime is going up. Moreno Valley, we’re going in the opposite direction, which is good,” said Cabrera.
With primaries occurring on March 5, both the Republican and Democratic parties of Riverside County are hard at work holding campaign events as well as door-knocking to ensure that their candidates are victorious when the November election comes around.
Congressman Mark Takano and State Assemblyman Corey Jackson were also invited to attend the event. However, both Takano and Jackson had last minute issues in their schedules and did not attend the town hall meeting.
Viewpoints contacted the offices of both Takano and Jackson to discuss their reasoning for their absence from the town hall.
What we found out was that Jackson was out of town on the day of the event and instead sent campaign representative Jorge Zavala to attend the event, according to Daniel Peeden, communications director for Jackson’s office. “Zavala was there as a state representative to help constituents,” said Peeden.
Takano’s office could not be reached for comment.
