Two candidates for mayor, Christine Bello (l) and Judy Kennedy (r) talked about their ideas for city government for 45 minutes.
By Nancy Peckenham
The six Republican and Democratic candidates for Newburgh city offices appeared before a packed house at SUNY Orange’s Kaplan Hall Wednesday evening where they gave people a chance to hear their views. The Candidates Forum was moderated by Rob Ingram, a member of Change Newburgh, a sponsor of the event along with MoBetta –Mothers and Others for a Better Newburgh, SUNY Orange and the Times-Herald Record.
Mayoral candidates Christine Bello, a Republican, and Judy Kennedy, a Democrat, shared their ideas for changing city government – agreeing occasionally but distinct in their approaches.
With nearly four years of experience as a member of city council, Bello talked about the importance of building consensus “to pass legislation that would help taxpayers.” She also stressed that as mayor, she would make sure the city has an open, transparent government.
Candidate Judy Kennedy said her management style is “participatory,” and sees her job as motivating employees to carry out programs enacted by city council.
Councilwoman Bello said her greatest personal accomplishment was establishing a prosperous business 32 years ago.
Judy Kennedy said when she went to college at age 37 as a single mother, she learned that she could do anything she set her mind to.
When asked about ideas for generating revenue, candidate Kennedy said the city needs to do more outreach, ask for more help and tackle problems through a private-public partnership. She said she would seek more grants and back a Newburgh business association to help market the city’s benefits.
Candidate Bello said the city could generate money by re-organizing departments that are top heavy and selling off more city-owned properties. She offered a revenue-generating idea for the section of mid-Broadway that the city is trying to redevelop. She suggested moving the police and fire stations to the block that is surrounded by a high-crime neighborhood and selling the more valuable site with a river view to a developer for a hotel or other property.
City Council Candidates Shed Light on Their Views
Following the presentation by the two candidates for mayor, the four people appearing on the ballot for city council this November talked about their ideas. The four candidates are Cedric Brown (Democrat), John Guidice (Republican), Gay Lee (Democrat) and John (Jack) Penney (Republican).
All for candidates agreed that the city council should take more control from the city manager and provide more oversight of departments operations. They all talked about how cleaner streets, better code enforcement and economic development is needed to revitalize the city.
City council candidates Jack Penney and Gay Lee.
They differed on issues of anti-gang and anti-drug pushes by law enforcement, although each expressed support for the city police department. Republican candidates Penney and Giudice endorsed the FBI-led sweeps and called for more of them. Democrats Lee and Brown proposed adding youth programs that could support kids and provide an alterative to criminal activity.
The Democratic candidates also favored the proposed amendments to the city charter, including the move to a ward system and a stronger council role in selecting a city manager. Republican Penney explained that he was a member of the charter review commission and that he had proposed the use of a super majority to appoint the city manager. He said he warned the commission that the move to a ward system could lead to lawsuits and that it diluted the power of voters by not letting them choose from a full city-wide slate of candidates. Fellow Republican candidate Guidice agreed that he is “not crazy on the ward system.”
Candidate Lee said that she would like to see a requirement that more city jobs be offered to city residents, an idea that was endorsed by the others at various moments during the forum. Cedric Brown, a business owner, said he’d take the pressure off taxpayers and work with non-profits to revitalize houses and get them back on the tax rolls.
CIty council candidates John Giudice (l) and Cedric Brown (r).
The crowd of more than 100 people in attendance at the forum could get an understanding of the personalities of all the candidates and form their own impressions of how they would function in office.
Also in attendance but not speaking was Omari Shakur, who lost the Democratic primary for Mayor but who on Wednesday announced that he is a write-in candidate for that spot. Michael Gabor, who also lost the Democratic party primary, says he is a write-in candidate for city council as well, adding that his chances may improve because voters have to use a pen to fill out their ballots and could just write his name in.
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