Obama to Return to Los Angeles Thursday

In the midst of a 24-hour fundraising swing through Los Angeles, President Barack Obama will speak Thursday at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, and a limited number of free tickets will be available to the public beginning tomorrow.

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the college's Aspen Hall, 2215 S. Grand Ave., according to the White House. It's unclear exactly how many tickets will be distributed.

Obama will speak at the college at about 1:15 p.m. Thursday, focusing on the "importance of job-driven skills training," according to the White House.

Doors for the speech will open at 10:45 a.m. Thursday at 1937 S. Grand Ave. According to the White House, attendees will pass through airport-like security. People are urged not to bring bags and should limit personal items. No signs or banners will be permitted.

The Los Angeles visit is part of a three-day West Coast swing that begins Tuesday in Seattle, where the president will attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. On Wednesday, he will attend a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser in San Francisco.

Obama is scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, then attend a DNC fundraising reception and dinner at the Hancock Park home of television producer Shonda Rhimes.

Tickets for the event begin at $1,000, according to an invitation posted on the website, PoliticalPartyTime.org, which tracks political fundraisers.

The price is $10,000 to attend the reception and for the opportunity to have a photo taken with Obama, and $32,400 -- the maximum allowable contribution to a national party committee in a calendar year -- to be a co- host of the event, which also allows the donor to attend a dinner with Obama in addition to the reception and the photo opportunity.

The event's co-chairs include Kerry Washington, the star of the Rhimes- produced ABC drama "Scandal." Rhimes is also a producer of two other ABC dramas, "Grey's Anatomy" and "How to Get Away with Murder," which will debut this fall.

On Thursday, in addition to his speech at Trade-Technical College, Obama is scheduled to attend a roundtable discussion with about 30 people at the Los Angeles home of Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, with tickets costing $32,400 each, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The trip will be Obama's 19th to Los Angeles or Orange counties since taking office in 2009 and the third in three months. All but three of his trips have included political fundraisers. He has made 10 trips to the region solely for fundraising.

Obama is scheduled to depart from LAX at about 3:10 p.m. Thursday.

City News Service