Most of the tension was between Garcetti and Greuel, who got into a micro-debate about whether Greuel's numbers added up. (Neon Tommy)

The three top candidates running for mayor this election season spoke to citizens and community groups from around South L.A. to garner votes in one of the poorest sections of the city.

"What we need to do in Los Angeles to get back to work," said Greuel, who is currently Los Angeles City Controller. "[We need to] remove barriers to unemployment."

The event was held by Community Coalition, which is an organization that sponsors and promotes community involvement in South L.A. specifically, at the Ward AME Church. Mayoral candidates Jan Perry, Wendy Greuel, and Eric Garcetti were the main panelist speakers. The event was split between questions from the leaders of non-profit community groups and questions from both the audience and from the Facebook event page. 

The other two candidates expressed similar sentiments regarding employment during the course of the evening, mostly focusing on the idea of hiring community workers for community jobs. 

"It's up to us who we hire," said Garcetti, who brought up a point-by-point plan for improving the job situation, including diversity, vocational programs, and a racial equality agenda. He also briefly mentioned his plan to install solar panels and invest in alternative energy as a means to ensure employment.

Housing also played an important role in the panel, even being featured in the opening remarks by Maria Elena Durazo, who is part of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. All three candidates assured the community that affordable and good-quality housing would be a top priority if elected.

Perry outlined a plan to demand taxes from banks on foreclosed houses and to put those funds to non-profit housing, pointing to her success in the past with the Dubar Hotel. 

Garcetti stressed that it was possible to "legislate and make good laws," in regard to banks avoiding taxes on foreclosed properties, but without proper implementation, "they need to go."

Most of the tension was between Garcetti and Greuel, who got into a micro-debate about whether Greuel's numbers added up, with Perry generally sticking to her own points in the debate. 

Jan Perry, city councilwoman. (Neon Tommy)

Perry also stressed a commitment to racial and gender equality when talking about jobs.

"[We need to] make gender and racial equality a priority," said Perry. "If everybody had a job, no one is going to care what the person's skin color is."

Other issues that came up during the debate included cost of utilities, recovering money from banks, employing the youth, and ensuring that formerly incarcerated citizens would be able to assimilate and get jobs without obstruction.

The event was co-sponsored by multiple community groups, which were all highly represented in the audience, including L.A. Black Worker Center, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Watts Labor Community Action Committee, and many others.

There will be a follow-up forum to to the event on Wednesday, Feb. 13, from 6 p.m. to 7:30p.m.

Reach Nandini here.