David R. Garcia, Warren Fletcher, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Arlene Inouye - Perdaily.com

David R. Garcia, Warren Fletcher, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Arlene Inouye - Perdaily.com:



The Great Boyle Heights UTLA Election Breakdown

Several nights ago on March 5, 2014 the Boyle Heights City Hall hosted the finale of the presidential debate for this year's UTLA city wide elections.  Attendance was at capacity and every presidential candidate was there to answer four questions in a round robin sequence.  This was actually more of a forum than a debate.  The rules were specific.  Candidates could be critical of each other in their responses but could not question or address each other directly. Members of the audience were not allowed to question the candidates and no cheering or booing was to be permitted. A rule which would prove to be impossible to enforce.  Nonetheless, an audience of a little over fifty filled the small meeting hall and turned out to be a very enthusiastic group of listeners.

The ten candidates were arranged in an order which commenced with David R. Garcia and concluded with Alex Caputo-Pearl, the two most openly inimical candidates.  The first question addressed to candidates asked of them why they were running and what were there priorities.  Garcia immediately addressed union corruption and presence of cheating during the campaign by Union Power Slate members.  He would continually return to these themes addressing Caputo-Pearl specifically.  At first the other candidates seemed to address each question in relatively orthodox manner not straying off the call of the question itself.  However, as the questions progressed along, more and more several of the  candidates who were not incumbents or longtime union office holders also began to pick up on theme of the incumbents having had their turn in power over the years and having sold out their supposed reform mission.
  
As the event moved on, these same candidates began to draw a bead