By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – All roads led to the Margate Performing Arts Center Tuesday evening as the nine candidates seeking office in the upcoming May 8 City Commission race appeared in a forum put together by Howard Seiden and the Margate Business Coalition and moderated by Corrine Robinson, president of the Cape May County League of Women Voters.
More than 500 people packed the PAC, and it was standing room only for those who came to hear the candidates’ views. Those on stage who are named the winners when the election votes are tallied next month will have a four-year run in Margate City Hall.
Robinson explained the framework for the evening and divided the field of candidates into two groups, one with four and one with five. She intentionally separated candidates running on the same ticket and rotated the answering order.
Each candidate was given a 90-second window for an opening statement, and the use of yellow and red cards kept everyone to the clock. No closing statements were permitted.
Mike Becker drew the long straw and began the forum, promising “a return to integrity, nobility and dignity.”
“There is no room in City Hall for intimidation or coercion; it is time to lead by example.”
Joanne Kulzer followed, saying that resolving the groin issue and creating a business-friendly Margate are top priorities, along with cutting spending.
Ed McMeekin said he is in favor of a job audit.
“There are a lot of hard workers in City Hall, and there are a lot of dogs, and I am the dog catcher,” said McMeekin, who also vowed to do no more expensive studies.
Dan Campbell spoke of the importance of managing municipal budgets. “Don’t spend more than you take in,” said Campbell, adding that reconfiguring the work week would cut way back on overtime and still provide service to residents.
Carl Smallwood said he wants to protect the beaches and the recreation areas in Margate and said he signed the petition to keep the tennis courts at Jerome Avenue before he decided to run for office.
Scott Abbot called for an end to runaway spending and said the city has increased its debt in the last four years by 70 percent, which will cost taxpayers more than an additional $1 million.
Incumbent John Swift followed Abbott and pointed to the current year’s city budget, where cuts resulted in a one-cent tax reduction. He said that negative campaign tactics do not work and that he will remain positive no matter how negative others may get.
Maury Blumberg told the crowd that family comes first and that he had left Margate for a number of years and then realized that it was the perfect community when he grew up. He wanted his children to have the same opportunities, so he moved back to Margate to raise his family.
Burt Federman was the last to speak, and he said that he supports closing one of the schools in Margate. He also called for 7 p.m. City Commission meetings and for videotaping of all commission, planning and zoning meetings so that residents could watch on Channel 2.
After the introductions, questions were posed to the two groups to take turns answering. The first question was, “What in your opinion is the biggest challenge facing Margate and how would you address it?” Scott Abbott said he thought that controlling spending and debt were the biggest problems. Dan Campbell followed, addressing the amount of overtime workers are collecting in the city. He called for a workweek for some full-time workers that would run from Sunday through Wednesday rather than Monday through Friday.
John Swift said that taxes are the main concern. Swift called for the consolidation of the tax assessor and water and sewer services.
“There is no reason why Longport, Margate and Ventnor can’t consolidate services,” Swift added.
Joanne Kulzer said her objective in running is to save some money for the city. Ed McMeekin said his whole campaign has been against the tax-and-spend culture and that expensive studies undertaken should have been done in-house.
The next group was asked to address the needs of the Fire Department. Federman called the Jerome Avenue entrance to Margate one of the most beautiful views and said that he favors expansion of current facilities. Blumberg said, “I am not in favor of a firehouse on my ball fields.” He added that renovating the present facilities was the better choice.
Smallwood reiterated that he had signed the petition not to move the tennis courts and favors renovation of current facilities. Becker wrapped up the questions of the first round by saying, “I don’t favor a firehouse on Mr. Blumberg’s fields.”
Questions went round after round with topics focusing on dredging, parking, and the closing of a school. The other big question was where the candidates weigh in on the referendum question that will share the May 8 ballot with the commission candidates.
Only four candidates had a chance to present their views on an elected v. appointed school board. Becker, Blumberg and Smallwood said they favor retaining the appointed school board, while Federman said he supports an elected school board. TOP
