LAWRENCE — With just six days to go before the primary election, nine mayoral hopefuls made passionate personal pleas for votes following a cordial and lively televised candidates forum last night.
After an array of questions that touched on everything from taxes, police, schools, unemployment and economic development, each of the nine candidates had two minutes to make their cases.
"I am not looking for a job. I am looking to serve this community," said Julia Silverio, noting that the next city mayor has a tough job "on her hands."
Israel Reyes used his final two minutes to talk about a subject that's dogged him for months on the campaign trail: his association with Wilfredo Laboy, the school superintendent on leave amid a criminal investigation into financial improprieties.
Describing it as a "delicate topic," Reyes stressed he was the "first individual running for office to call for his resignation" and that he resented fellow candidates using Laboy's "trials and tribulations" to campaign against him.
"If he is found to be guilty, then he will be dealt with," Reyes said of Laboy.
The nine mayoral candidates met on stage at the South Lawrence East School. The forum was sponsored by the Lawrence Teachers Union and the Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Candidate William Lantigua did not attend.
Panelists were Eagle-Tribune Managing Editor Gretchen Putnam, Boston Globe reporter Maria Sacchetti, Marcela Garcia, El Planeta reporter, and John Drinkwater, a staffer for the AFL-CIO and a delegate to the MVCLC.
A question about police brutality was posed to candidate Daniel Cotnoir, who was acquitted in 2006 of firing a rifle out of his Broadway window and wounding two people below. Police Chief John Romero pulled Cotnoir's license to carry a firearm after the trial.
When asked how he felt Romero handled recent cases of police brutality, Cotnoir first responded by saying he feels Lawrence has one of the best police departments in the country. "They've done more with less for years," he said.
However, he said he feels Romero "fell short" in the brutality cases and that citizens "deserve to be protected and not afraid of the Police Department." Candidate Nunzio DiMarca said he felt that local police, alongside teachers, should have a role in schools. He also said that students need positive role models and programs that "prevent things from happening - not react to it happening."
Asked the same question, candidate Nilka Alvarez-Rodriguez said "a mediation council" comprised of teachers and students has also been successful subduing school conflicts.
Candidate Patrick Blanchette said he supports Quinn Bill funding, which provides educational incentive money to police officers, because it attracts the "best and brightest" to the police department.
"I'm committed to making sure we do fund it, even if there's a reduction of funding from the state," Blanchette said.
Also, if elected mayor, Blanchette said he'd oversee the hiring of many "key posts" at City Hall, including water commissioner and personnel director positions, which are currently vacant. He'd recruit qualified candidates, including Lawrencians, and reject cronyism, he said.
Candidate Marcos Devers said he would not support increases in the meal or hotel taxes, which some communities are adopting to offset cuts in state aid. He chided the current administration, led by Mayor Michael Sullivan, saying all reserve accounts have been depleted. Taxpayers, he said, "don't deserve more of a burden."
Questioned about the city's ailing finances and the possibility of a state takeover, candidate David Abdoo, a city councilor, acknowledged "the threat is real." He spoke of the need for increased economic development, which expands the city's tax base and brings more money into Lawrence's coffers.
"We have sizeable capital issues the city needs to address," he said.
DiMarca also suggested the city could sell water that's purified at its new treatment center; a venture that could attract millions annually and sever the city's reliance on state aid.
"We don't have to be beggars for state funds," he said.
When asked to rate Sullivan's two terms in office, candidate Pedro Payano described them as a "disaster" that's left the city in crisis. While Laboy is the target of much criticism, Payano reminded viewers that Sullivan is mayor and chairman of the School Committee.
"He's done everything he did for eight years and he's done nothing to stop him," Payano charged.SClBIn her closing statement, Alvarez-Rodriguez talked about her love of the city. "I want to be the next mayor of Lawrence because I have that passion," she said.
Abdoo said the city needs "bold leadership" to steer it through a difficult time marked by financial deficits and the school scandal. But success will mean a strong, positive partnership with the City Council and help from ever citizens, he said.
The candidates forum airs again today at noon and 9 p.m. on Lawrence Community Access Television.
The primary is next Tuesday, Sept. 22.
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