Paris Barraza & Amalia Escobedo

@parisbarraza @Amyscobedo

Students, faculty members and Fontana residents all rushed into one of the Ralph M. Lewis Center rooms located at the Chaffey Fontana campus on September, 19th. All eyes were on Hector Solorzano the coordinator of The Breeze Town Hall Meeting and Digital Editor-in-Chief of The Breeze as he introduced the mayoral candidates. The running Fontana mayoral candidates present that night were Lorena Corona, Mylinda Carrillo and Hafsa Sharafat.

Hector Solorzano introducing the mayoral candidates. Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr. — Hector Solorzano introducing the mayoral candidates. *Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr.*

There were three out of the six candidates missing at the meeting including the current Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren. All candidates were contacted, emailed and sent an invitation to attend this meeting to which some of the candidates responded.

At the start of the meeting local residents began to question why the current mayor was not present. They had come in hopes that she would be answering some of their questions. Once the topic cleared the air and an explanation was given, they moved on to ask the present running candidates some questions.

Questions were submitted via Twitter by students at Chaffey using the hashtag "BreezeTownHall". Topics included the legalization of marijuana, the increasing crime rates in Fontana, and the development of warehouses in the city. Solorzano asked questions for 30 minutes, before dedicating the last half of the town hall to a live question and answer session open for attendees. Constituents of Fontana expressed their frustrations towards current mayor Acquanetta Warren as well as addressing recent conflicts with local law enforcement.

Lorena Corona in response to the legalization of of marijuana, stating, “I’m open to the conversation. We have to have the mentality to address the needs of our community.” Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr. — Lorena Corona in response to the legalization of of marijuana, stating, “I’m open to the conversation. We have to have the mentality to address the needs of our community.” *Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr.*

Mylinda Carillo stating, “We can use [warehouses] for homeless shelters.” Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr. — Mylinda Carillo stating, “We can use [warehouses] for homeless shelters.” *Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr.*

Hafsa Sharafat stating, “We need to ensure that we have good paying jobs.” Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr. — Hafsa Sharafat stating, “We need to ensure that we have good paying jobs.” *Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr.*

Constituents of Fontana lining up to ask the mayoral candidates questions. Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr. — Constituents of Fontana lining up to ask the mayoral candidates questions. *Photo Courtesy: Sid Suarez Sr.*

The last statement of the night after the Q & A ended came from veteran Russell Anderson. Nate Newman, a reporter for The Breeze newspaper, posted this tweet about Russell's commentary:

Community Member, Russell Anderson, strongly Speaks his Mind tonight; Voicing Opinions & Issues involving Chief of @FontanaPD, along w/ a few words for many other Hierarchy Officials. Ending the Speech in radical Ideas to help out w/ Problems within Our own Community #chaffeynow pic.twitter.com/c7DtfrFg41
— Nate 🔺 Newman (@NateNewman18) September 20, 2018

Refreshments were served, and after the town hall came to a close, attendees had the opportunity to personally meet with candidates.

Fontana Town Hall