On October 27, the mayor of Hawthorne, Alex Vargas, held a town hall meeting with all of the community’s youth. The Teen Town Hall took place in Saint Joseph’s Teen Hall. HMSA students were invited to attend the meeting because Mr. Launius and Mr. Dura both informed their students that the mayor was coming to St. Joseph for a town hall meeting. This town hall meeting was one of the first dedicated for Hawthorne’s youth community, and thus was a great opportunity for HMSA students to attend. The event was informative and eye opening. This was a great opportunity to understand the mayor at a more personal level and obtain information on what the future of Hawthorne may look like.

Throughout the entire evening the Mayor was asked various questions. Most of these questions began very general, and eventually as the night progressed, the questions began to get more controversial. A member in the crowd asked Mayor Vargas about Hawthorne’s parking problem and any possible solutions that Mayor Vargas and his team might be planning. Although Mayor Vargas did talk “good game” and explained his solutions to the crowd, his answer tilted to the obscure side of the conversation.

There was much talk about the future plans for the Hawthorne abandoned mall. However, as people brought up the numerous rumors about the the mall, nothing was clear about what would be done to this area. The mayor explained that the abandoned mall was not owned by the city but by an investor who keeps making shallow promises. With such expectations, it is clear that the future for this empty space will remain unknown. The mayor attempted to promise new innovations for the mall, but with Hawthorne’s current state, there isn’t enough money to do anything. However, there is a silver lining that many people are hoping for: according to the mayor, the land will be taken back as the city of Hawthorne’s property in hopes of creating something that will benefit the community.

Although Mayor Vargas presents some imperfections, it’s clear that he has benefited the Hawthorne community. Unlike past mayors, Alex Vargas was the first mayor of Hawthorne to be invited to the White House. There he met the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama. As he spoke about Obama, he explained how he admired his boldness. Moreover, Mayor Vargas has been attempting to fix Hawthorne’s deficit. He stated how he is applying project grants and trying to increase business in the city of Hawthorne. Alex Vargas has also been working to beautify Hawthorne. There’s also a quote he mentioned that was truly inspiration: “Evil triumphs when good men and women do nothing.” This deeply reflected a lot of the problems that politics is facing today. Not many people are voting and this quote truly explained contemporary times.

Beside politics, the meeting also consisted of meeting Mayor Vargas as a person. His personality is young, and although he is an adult, he can easily connect with Hawthorne’s young adults. He spoke about his life, he played sports in high school, was encouraged to continue school because of his father, and he spoke about his college education, majoring in physics.

Overall, the Teen Town Hall meeting was extremely informative and had a calm atmosphere throughout the night. Meeting Mayor Vargas was a great experience, especially because HMSA made sure to be present in the town hall meeting. Thanks to all the students who showed up, our school was able to establish itself as an informed community of students.