City Council Debate

As part of what could possibly be the most intense city council election in Arcadia’s city history, six candidates vying for three vacancies gathered on Mar. 25 and again on Mar. 31 to answer questions regarding their respective campaign platforms.



On the 25th, the candidates gathered at the Arcadia Woman’s Club to approach a variety of issues brought up by the Arcadia community. Moderated by Scott Hettrick, the publisher of blog Arcadia’s Best, the night began with the candidates’ opening statements. Out of the six—Mr. Jason Lee, Mr. Bob Harbicht, Mr. Sho Tay, Mr. Peter Amundsen, Mr. Paul Cheng, and Mr. Mickey Segal—three are endorsed by the Arcadia Police Officers Union, and this was a hot topic of discussion at both this debate and the forum that occurred six days later on the 31st. Other topics addressed revolved around the infamous “Don’t Vote for Paul Cheng” car, and the reasons behind the harassment. Remarked senior Greg Chen: “At first I thought that the reason this smear campaign was being run had something to do with Mr. Cheng’s character. However, this forum really allowed him to explain himself and my perception has changed.”



The informative benefits of the Mar. 25th Woman’s Club forum carried over to the Mar. 31st City Candidates’ Forum held at the Santa Anita Inn. This forum, relatively similar to the previous one in terms of organization, was different in that the moderators were comprised of members from Arcadia High School’s state champion Constitution Team. In this debate, the questions were split into three sections—quality of life, economic, and political—and the Constitution Team was responsible for coming up with the questions. Some topics discussed include the city sign ordinance and the excessive amounts of campaign finance this time around. From Mr. Harbicht’s $10,000 to Mr. Cheng’s $107,000—from Mr. Amundsen’s explanation of police union endorsement to Mr. Harbicht’s remarks on state housing requirements, each and every candidate had something to say to the community. As senior Daphne Fan put it best, “the forum was an excellent opportunity not only for the candidate, but for the community and for the members of our Constitution Team as a whole.”



Today, we find ourselves with three new councilmen: Mr. Harbicht, Mr. Segal, and Mr. Amundsen. But in the end, we must not forget the process that led to the election of our new city leaders, and we know one thing for certain—that after these debates, our citizens are at least one step closer to making the informed decisions that Arcadia needs.

As part of what could possibly be the most intense city council election in Arcadia’s city history, six candidates vying for three vacancies gathered on Mar. 25 and again on Mar. 31 to answer questions regarding their respective campaign platforms.



On the 25th, the candidates gathered at the Arcadia Woman’s Club to approach a variety of issues brought up by the Arcadia community. Moderated by Scott Hettrick, the publisher of blog Arcadia’s Best, the night began with the candidates’ opening statements. Out of the six—Mr. Jason Lee, Mr. Bob Harbicht, Mr. Sho Tay, Mr. Peter Amundsen, Mr. Paul Cheng, and Mr. Mickey Segal [no salutations for people outside of AHS, only title if applicable]—three are endorsed by the Arcadia Police Officers Union, and this was a hot topic of discussion at both this debate and the forum that occurred six days later on the 31st. Other topics addressed revolved around the infamous “Don’t Vote for Paul Cheng” car, and the reasons behind the harassment. Remarked senior Greg Chen: “At first I thought that the reason this smear campaign was being run had something to do with Mr. Cheng’s character. However, this forum really allowed him to explain himself and my perception has changed.”



The informative benefits of the Mar. 25th [25] Woman’s Club forum carried over to the Mar. 31st [31] City Candidates’ Forum held at the Santa Anita Inn. This forum, relatively similar to the previous one in terms of organization, was different in that the moderators were comprised of members from Arcadia High School’s [AHS's] state champion Constitution Team. In this debate, the questions were split into three sections—quality of life, economic, and political—and the Constitution Team was responsible for coming up with the questions. Some topics discussed include the city sign ordinance and the excessive amounts of campaign finance this time around. From Mr. Harbicht’s $10,000 to Mr. Cheng’s $107,000—from Mr. Amundsen’s explanation of police union endorsement to Mr. Harbicht’s [no salutations, only titles if applicable] remarks on state housing requirements, each and every candidate had something to say to the community. As senior Daphne Fan put it best, “the forum was an excellent opportunity not only for the candidate, but for the community and for the members of our Constitution Team as a whole.”



Today, we find ourselves with three new councilmen: Mr. Harbicht, Mr. Segal, and Mr. Amundsen. [no salutations, only titles if applicable] But in the end, we must not forget the process that led to the election of our new city leaders, and we know one thing for certain—that after these debates, our citizens are at least one step closer to making the informed decisions that Arcadia needs.

As part of what could possibly be the most intense city council election in Arcadia’s city history, six candidates vying for three vacancies gathered on Mar. 25 and again on Mar. 31 to answer questions regarding their respective campaign platforms.



On the 25th, the candidates gathered at the Arcadia Woman’s Club to approach a variety of issues brought up by the Arcadia community. Moderated by Scott Hettrick, the publisher of blog Arcadia’s Best, the night began with the candidates’ opening statements. Out of the six—Mr. Jason Lee, Mr. Bob Harbicht, Mr. Sho Tay, Mr. Peter Amundsen, Mr. Paul Cheng, and Mr. Mickey Segal–three are endorsed by the Arcadia Police Officers Union, and this was a hot topic of discussion at both this debate and the forum that occurred six days later on the 31st. Other topics addressed revolved around the infamous “Don’t Vote for Paul Cheng” car, and the reasons behind the harassment. Remarked senior Greg Chen: “At first I thought that the reason this smear campaign was being run had something to do with Mr. Cheng’s character. However, this forum really allowed him to explain himself and my perception has changed.”



The informative benefits of the Mar. 25 Woman’s Club forum carried over to the Mar. 31 City Candidates’ Forum held at the Santa Anita Inn. This forum, relatively similar to the previous one in terms of organization, was different in that the moderators were comprised of members from AHS's state champion Constitution Team. In this debate, the questions were split into three sections—quality of life, economic, and political—and the Constitution Team was responsible for coming up with the questions. Some topics discussed include the city sign ordinance and the excessive amounts of campaign finance this time around. From Harbicht’s $10,000 to Cheng’s $107,000—from Amundsen’s explanation of police union endorsement to Harbicht’s remarks on state housing requirements, each and every candidate had something to say to the community. As senior Daphne Fan put it best, “the forum was an excellent opportunity not only for the candidate, but for the community and for the members of our Constitution Team as a whole.”



Today, we find ourselves with three new councilmen: Harbicht, Segal, and Amundsen. But in the end, we must not forget the process that led to the election of our new city leaders, and we know one thing for certain—that after these debates, our citizens are at least one step closer to making the informed decisions that Arcadia needs.

Sorry, didn't know this wasn't logged on my account. This is Andrew.