U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) will be the keynote speaker next month at a local forum on Social Security.

Highline Community College will host “The Threat to Social Security: An Issue For All Generations” at 6:30 p.m. April 12 at the college’s student union building, located at S. 240th Street and Pacific Highway South in Des Moines.

The forum is free and open to the public.

Kucinich, a former mayor of Cleveland, has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997. His 10th congressional district in Ohio and that state’s 9th district were collapsed into one district due to the 2010 Census. In March, Kucinich lost the 2012 Democratic primary to 9th District incumbent Marcy Kaptur.

The liberal Kucinich sought the nomination for president in 2004 and 2008. He opposes the privatization of Social Security while supporting full Social Security benefits at age 65, according to his 2008 presidential campaign platform.

There has been speculation of Kucinich pursuing one of Washington’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Kucinich has not publicly declared whether he will do so.

Kucinich has another peculiar connection to Washington state: He claims to have seen a UFO over the home of his daughter’s godmother, actress Shirley MacLaine. Click here to hear his explanation.

Other guest speakers at the April 12 forum at Highline include Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica; Marilyn Watkins, policy director, Economic Opportunity Institute; and Magdaleno Rose-Avila, executive director, The Latino Equality Initiative.