11:45am | The latest in series of debates hosted by the Long Beach Press Club will be held tonight when candidates for the office of City Prosecutor square off at Smooth’s Sports Grille tonight beginning at 7:00pm. Admission is free and open to the public. Smooth’s is located at 144 Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach.

Current assistant city prosecutor Timothy O’Reilly is taking on former deputy city prosecutor Doug Haubert. O’Reilly has served in his position for three years while Haubert left Long Beach professionally to work for an independent law firm that provides attorneys to serve as City Prosecutor for client cities.

In January, O’Reilly challenged Haubert’s professional description that will appear on the ballot, claiming that it was “misleading” for Haubert to classify himself as a City Attorney/Prosecutor. Long Beach City Clerk Larry Herrera said the description would not be changed unless challenged in court.

The debate figures to follow in the competitive spirit of last week’s showdown between City Attorney Robert Shannon and challenger Tom Reeves (current City Prosecutor).

Can’t make it tonight? Register at this website to watch the debate live from any computer.

The Long Beach Press Club is hosting public debates for each open office leading up to elections this April. Candidates are questioned by a panel of local journalists and questions from the audience are encouraged. In coming weeks, debates will be held between candidates for the 1st, 3rd and 5th District City Council seats. The staging-live.lbpost.com is proud to have participated in last week’s City Attorney debate and will be involved in the 5th District debate as well.

Disclosure: Smooth’s Sports Grille is an advertiser of the staging-live.lbpost.com.