Long Beach City Councilman Gary DeLong, Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander and members of Associated Students, Inc. will be hosting the “Light Up Our Nights” rally, which will oppose the city’s decision not to fund new streetlights on the portions of Bellflower Boulevard, Atherton Street and Palo Verde Avenue bordering campus.
The demonstration will be in protest to the city’s decision to vote down a non-reoccurring cost of $133,000 – one third of the total cost of the new lighting.
The rally is planned for today from noon to 2 p.m. at the Speaker’s Platform in front of the University Bookstore.
“Any time the students voice their concerns, I think it gets the attention of the city council,” Alexander said. “[Students] are some of the most important citizens in Long Beach.”
The rally, sponsored by ASI, will feature speeches from DeLong, Alexander and the Jack Pearson, chief of police, and a march around the contested areas.
ASI executives will also be in attendance, the director of the Women’s Resource Center Marcela G. Chavez, the ASI Secretary of Women’s Affairs Sarah Noone and some senators and commissioners.
“This is on a city street, on city sidewalks,” DeLong said. “I’m delighted to be discussing this. It’s a city issue. We should solve it.”
