Councilor-at-Large Forum: The Issues, Opinions and Soon, the Voter Decisions

October 22, 2011

Candidates, at Candidates-at-Large Forum

Tuesday Night’s Councilor-at-Large Forum, sponsored by the Mack Park Neighborhood Association (MPNA) and South Salem Neighborhood Association, was well attended, with an estimated 150-200 residents attending the event held at the Moose Family Lodge #218.

Incumbent participants Joan Lovely, Steven Pinto, Arthur Sargent, and Tom Furey defended their opinions and positions on topics provided by the largely residential audience, while challengers seeking to possess one of the four Councilor-at-Large seats, Teasie Riley-Goggin, Darek Barcikowski, Kevin Carr, Matthew Fraser and Matthew Richard, introduced the audience to their solutions and opinions.

Audience at Councilor-at-Large Forum

Salem resident concerns such as the wind turbine placement on Winter Island, Senior Center lack of progress and location selection, granting of developer parking variances, pedestrian mall auto access, and Salem transfer station’s potential expansion into a regional facility were addressed by each of the candidates in timed, 1-minute increments.

Some common themes were echoed among the candidates – Salem’s development into a more robust destination, environmental concerns such as utilizing green technologies and reducing negative environmental impacts, and encouraging development of the city without adversely impacting its residential neighborhoods.

Raffle table at Councilor-at-Large Forum

Tom Furey surprised the audience by discussing his upcoming surgery and candidates supported the use of internet-based technologies to communicate with constituents while acknowledging that these tools did not take the place of phone and in-person interactions.

Now that the candidates have aired their opinions, it’s up to the voters to decide who fills the city’s four Councilor-at-Large chairs. Quoting challenger Teasie Riley-Goggin, “You have a privilege, people, and you’re not using it. Get out and vote.”

The event was covered by the Salem Patch, Salem News, and Salem Access Television (SATV).

If you were unable to attend the Councilor-at-Large Forum on Tuesday night, SATV will be broadcasting it tonight (10.22.2011) at 4:00pm on channel 16.

Media Coverage

SATV (streaming video)
http://cc.satvonline.org/Cablecast/Public/Show.aspx?ChannelID=1&ShowID=2845

Salem Patch (live blog replay)
http://salem.patch.com/articles/live-blog-at-large-candidates-forum

Salem News
http://www.salemnews.com/local/x859488376/Salem-councilor-at-large-candidates-speak-minds-at-forum

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1184194130/City-hosts-a-first-a-potluck-political-forum

Websites

Teasie Riley-Goggin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teasie%20Riley-Goggin/#!/pages/Teasie-Riley-Goggin/266942476675491/
Website: http://www.teasieforsalem.com or http://teasieforsalem.wordpress.com

Darek Barcikowski
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darekforsalem”
Website: http://darekforcouncilor.com/

Steven Pinto
No website is available.

Matthew Richard
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Matthew-Richard-for-Salem-Councilor-at-Large/204656006272923
Website: http://votemattrichardsalem.com

Joan Lovely
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-Councillor-Joan-B-Lovely/167921721853?sk=info

Matthew Fraser
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SalemLanguages?sk=wall
Website: http://www.ideasforamerica.org/