The two Fresno mayoral candidates, Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea and Fresno City Councilman Lee Brand, attended a forum in Fresno State’s North Gym on Tuesday to talk about student issues.

The forum was presented by Associated Students Inc. and open to students, faculty and staff.

Perea and Brand opted to hold a forum on campus to create conversation with students geared toward their issues and interests.

With about 30 seats occupied, approximately 150 seats remained vacant.

The forum was moderated by university professor of political science, Dr. Thomas Holyoke.

Brand is a member of the Fresno City Council and represents District 6 in northeast Fresno. Perea is a former Fresno City councilman and represents District 3 on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors.

The candidates are looking to take the seat of Mayor Ashley Swearengin in the Nov. 8 election. Swearengin is teamed out in January.

Before the forum began, Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro addressed the audience.

“There are many issues that are important to Fresno State students and faculty and staff,” Castro said. “What better place than a university to have a discussion of important ideas?”

Ten questions were prepared in advance by the ASI student senate. “These are questions picked by students, reflecting student issues here at Fresno State,” said Holyoke.

The questions included issues such as: S.T.E.M. degrees (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) versus fine arts degrees, downtown revitalization, homelessness, slumlords around the university campus, restoring trust in the police, staying in Fresno after graduation, Fresno State police jurisdiction and the costs of living for university students.

Holyoke asked the candidates their position on S.T.E.M. versus the fine arts and their influence in the community.

Perea answered, “There’s no question that the arts are the soul of the community.” Perea said he believes fine arts are as important to the community as the hard sciences. He said he wants to invests in creating a thriving community and economy where individuals do not have to choose a career they do not enjoy.

Brand said, “I see the United States lagging in hard sciences, math, technology and engineering. I think the country as a whole, we’ve lost in the gap in technology. I think we need to put a bigger focus on that,”

Holyoke asked, “University graduates will only stay in Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley if there are good employment opportunities for them. As mayor of Fresno, what will you do to stimulate the kind of economic development that creates jobs for university graduates that more closely involves university students in these economic opportunities?”

In recent years, Brand said there is a dramatic change in these opportunities. He said to create a sustaining growth, we need to have an expanding and robust economy.

“You won’t have to go off to the Bay Area or Los Angeles to manage to get those jobs,” Brand said.

Perea said diversification is the first step to creating a healthy economy. “In my mind the immediate opportunity we have the high-speed rail.”

The supervisor said the high-speed rail project can benefit the university by enabling engineering students to obtain careers in Fresno: “When we bring diversification to our economy, it’s going to bring obvious opportunities for people to stay.”

Once the forum concluded, students were able to ask the candidates questions.

Fresno State College Democrats President Andrew Dasovich asked how the candidates feel about working with the future president of the U.S.

Perea said he will work with either party because we are a community first. He noted Swearengin’s ability to work with bipartisan policy makers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. He said he will continue that effort if he wins.

Brand believes that no matter who wins the election, “you respect the office.”

“I don’t care if it is a Democrat, a Republican or an independent. I will respect that and promote the City of Fresno,” Brand said.