Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Durant and News Editor Julia Pizza of The Channels Editorial Board moderated the “We the Students” Associated Student Government candidate debate Thursday evening.
The Channels would like to endorse Parker Mitchell for student trustee, Matthew Esguerra for vice president of external affairs and Cristian Walk for president.
David Panbehchi, the other student trustee candidate, confronted the Board of Trustees earlier this semester on the gender-neutral bathroom topic.
The way he approached the board was pushy and created an uncomfortable scene. Panbehchi informally stood from his seat and was unnecessarily assertive about the issue in that time and place––especially since the topic was only an information item for that meeting and was not to be voted on yet.
His approach in this situation hurt his cause more than it helped.
The student trustee position requires a sense of poise with the board, and Panbehchi already proved to them that this is something he lacks.
While Mitchell lacks the student government experience that Panbehchi has, The Channels believes that Mitchell will grow into this position if elected.
Mitchell sparked controversy at the debate when his friends passed around printouts of Panbehchi’s Facebook posts regarding the recent Syria chemical attacks.
Although these posts were out of context and a shot below the belt towards Panbehchi, the research Mitchell did on his opponent was effective and left an impression on the audience.
As for the vice president of external affairs position, Esguerra is the only candidate with a clear understanding of the position’s purpose. He has the most knowledge of statewide community college issues and proved through his enthusiasm that state politics is something he cares about.
Esguerra has done a lot of research that will take us far as a college if he is elected.
Walk is the only presidential candidate with an overarching, accurate, attainable goal. The rest of his opponents seemed to be single-issue candidates based on their responses to debate questions and private interviews with different Channels reporters.
However, The Channels was hesitant when coming to an agreement on endorsing Walk. At the 2:19:24 time mark of the debate live-stream, Walk took the microphone out of outgoing president Dylan Raiman’s hand and said “hashtag four twenty.” This immature move will permanently be up on the City College YouTube channel.
The Channels cannot come to a conclusion on figuring out why he thought this was necessary or appropriate. He was professional up until that childish remark. It almost blew it for us to endorse him.
The Channels wishes Walk the best during this election, but we hope he finds it within himself to act more maturely during his term if elected.
Overall, the debate was a success. For the most part, everyone involved acted professionally and it was a great way to get to know the candidates better.
The Channels wishes everybody luck for the remainder of campaigning and anticipates to hear the results on Friday, April 28.
Clarification:
A previous version of this story stated that according to his Facebook posts, Panbehchi believed the US was responsible for Syrian attacks. This updated version removed the assumption.
