HONOLULU — Honolulu Community College's student government, the Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i, will hold a Honolulu Mayoral Candidate Forum at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, in the Norman Loui Conference Center located on the HCC campus.

The top three Honolulu mayoral candidates — incumbent Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and University of Hawai'i Professor Panos Prevedouros — have tentatively agreed to appear at the event.

The forum, which will be held just three days prior to the critical primary election, is expected to draw a large campus crowd as well as residents and businesses in the surrounding Kalihi area, organizers said.

The goal of the forum is to give students and the community a better understanding of each candidate's position on the issues that will impact Honolulu in the future.

According to Joseph Lewis, HCC's ASUH president, "Many students are interested in the mass transit issue, but our concerns and questions run much deeper — housing costs, roads, taxes, education, and the future of Hawai'i are important to us and our families."

The "Go Vote" campaign seeks to educate students and the community on the elections process and the importance of exercising their constitutional right to vote, as well as to provide opportunities for students to learn about relevant issues of importance for the 2008 election year along with candidate and issue forums.

The forum is open to the public, but parking is limited.