Thrive Alliance, Leadership Council SMC, and Choose Children, an initiative of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, co-hosted a District 4 Candidate Forum on Monday evening, September 23, 2024, with the two candidates: Lisa Gauthier, Councilmember, City of East Palo Alto, and Antonio Lopez, Mayor, City of East Palo Alto.

The event was held at the Fair Oaks Community Center in Redwood City. Thrive Alliance Senior Policy and Equity Manager, Yajaira Ortega, and Leadership Council SMC’s Leadership Immersion and Outreach Manager Isabella Yee were the moderators. 

Over 100 people attended the Forum in person and virtually. Live Spanish translation and childcare were offered for those attending in person. It was broadcast via Zoom in English and Spanish, and videos are available for viewing:

• English: www.bit.ly/CForum2024
• Español: https://youtu.be/NkYpjgJmJ9c?feature=shared
  

The purpose of this nonpartisan Candidate Forum was to provide voters with information to make informed voting decisions. Both candidates introduced themselves and answered questions regarding issues of importance to the voters.

Prior to this evening, constituents could submit questions via the registration page. Questions were reviewed by Thrive Alliance and Leadership Council SMC, and consolidated by common themes. 

The program went very smoothly. Candidates answered a wide range of questions on the issues, participated in a “lightning” round, and answered some lighter-topic questions enabling viewers to learn more about the candidates.

LaSaundra Gutter, a Commissioner on the Commission of the Status of Women who attended the Forum, noted,

“It’s so valuable to the community for Leadership Council SMC, and its partner organizations, Thrive Alliance and Silicon Valley Community Foundation, to host candidate forums because it gave people equitable access to hear from the candidates, and exposed attendees to the issues. The organizers made it easy for community members to participate by providing a Zoom option and childcare to those attending in person.” 

Thank you to the team at North Fair Oaks Community Center for hosting the event, and Thrive Alliance and Choose Children for partnering with us. 

Watch the Forum, in English or Spanish, on Thrive Alliance’s YouTube channel. 

> English: www.bit.ly/CForum2024

> Español: https://youtu.be/NkYpjgJmJ9c?feature=shared

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024. We encourage everyone to vote!