Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti will be among a dozen mayors from across the nation posting questions Friday to Democratic presidential hopefuls at a forum in Waterloo, Iowa.
"As mayors, we hear directly from the people we serve at the playground, at the supermarket, face to face," Garcetti said. "That's the perspective we are going to put in front of these candidates. We need real solutions that will build wealth for people who don't have it."
The Local America Presidential Forum will begin at 2:30 p.m. California time and can be live-streamed here. It is hosted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and a nonprofit organization Garcetti co-founded called Accelerator for America.
The candidates who are scheduled to attend are New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; and businessman Tom Steyer.
The five other Democrats still in the race are former Vice President Joe Biden; former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders; Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
According to the forum's website, the candidates will discuss various issues, and the mayors will question candidates on issues and solutions that affect voters directly.
The trip is Garcetti's fourth journey out of the state in 16 days, according to his office. He is scheduled to return to Los Angeles Saturday afternoon.
Garcetti flew to San Antonio Nov. 20 to speak at the National League of Cities City Summit, returning the following day. He was in New York at a "fireside chat" to discuss how Los Angeles is addressing homelessness, infrastructure and environmental stability from Nov. 22-25, and from Nov. 28-Dec. 1 he was on a personal Thanksgiving holiday trip.
