By Mario A. Cortez 
The five contenders in the race for San Diego City Attorney spoke Tuesday night about the main legal issues facing not only the City of San Diego, but also topics that affect Latino communities throughout the City.
The forum, organized by San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, was held at USD’s University Forum Halls and had an attendance of about 100 people.
The event began with a reception which allowed for interactions with the City Attorney candidates and members of organizations sponsoring the event. At around 7 p.m., the attendees gathered inside the USD University Forum to listen to the candidates.
Luis Osuna, President of San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, spoke with La Prensa San Diego about the event and its goals.
“The importance of tonight’s event is to provide a forum that can reach the Latino and other communities of color about the City Attorney race and the actual responsibilities that the City Attorney has,” said Osuna.
“There are great variety of issues that the Latino community should be aware of. As Latinos we can often be from lower income communities, which often don’t have a voice. We have had a lot of former City Attorneys that have prioritized prosecuting and going after criminals. In addition to that, it is important to know who the candidates are and to get to know their political philosophies; It [tells you] how they will advise city officials.”
The forum debate was hosted by NBC San Diego’s Catherine Garcia, who delivered questions to the candidates. The questions focused on topics ranging from alternatives to incarceration to city zoning ordinances.
The candidates for San Diego City Attorney incluye four Democrats: Former Ethics Commission Chairman Gil Cabrera, Port Commissioner Rafael Castellanos, Mara Elliott, and attorney Robert Pease, as well as Republican attorney Robert Hickey. Each candidate was given approximately three minutes to answer each question from the panel.
The event, scheduled until 8 p.m., ran until 8:30 when the candidates made their closing statements to the audience.