L-R: Derrick Samuels - Line E , Moderator Tom
Puryear; Royston Allman - Line B, and Alicia Holman - Line A.
It will take some time to type up my notes of the candidates'
answers to questions put to them by moderator Tom Puryear, vice
president of the Presidential Heights Community Association in
the fifth ward.
There was too much street noise and poor amplification of the
speakers, so no transcription was possible. I'll do my best to
let the candidates speak for themselves and keep my opinions to
myself until I get in the voting booth on June 4th.
Each candidate made an opening statement:
Alicia Holman spoke about meeting the needs of the police
department, a need to increase recreational opportunities for
youth while at the same time fingerprinting and giving drug tests
to all the adults who worked in the recreation department. She
wanted to see real development into the city.
Royston Allman spoke about economic development of East
Orange as being his main interest. His recurring theme was to
mention reopening of the Ampere train station at every
opportunity. That tied in with his plan to bring back businesses
to 4th Avenue. He also wanted more of a police presence in the
fifth ward, and talked about streamlining the teachers, police
and firefighters, although he did not go into details about how
that would work. Finally, he mentioned that there currently was
no elementary school in the fifth ward since the schools closed
and split up, and he wanted to bring one back.
Derrick Samuels stated that he was not a career politician,
but had a business background in the pharmacutical industry. His
approach as a councilman would be to improve the city (not
limited to the fifth ward) one block at a time by getting the
community involved in its own improvement plans. He felt parents
needed to have more of a role in schools and recreation, and his
recurring theme was getting the community involved in taking
responsibility for the future of the city.
The first question had to do with the problem of vacant homes
and buildings around the city.
Alicia Holman's plan was to try to trace the owners of those
properties and if they could not be found, to declare the
property abandon, bulldoze down any buildings and sell the
property for $1.00 to anyone who would guarantee to maintain the
property and pay the property taxes. For abandoned homes in good
shape, her plan was to sell them to police, fire fighters and
teachers as a way of encouraging them to live in the city.
Royston Allman's plan was to encourage the plan from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) called "Good Neighbor Next Door." Foreclosed
properties would be bought by the city in order to sell them to
police, fire fighters, teachers and emergency medical personel
under the HUD guidelines.
Derrick Samnuels plan was to "Follow the Money." He
would send out city inspectors to track down property owners or
banks that owned the property and make the owners or the banks
either rebuild, maintain or demolish the property, paying for all
expenses themselves.
Royston Allman's solution was to repurpose the building for
some other use, like recreation.
Derrick Samuel's solution was to open it for educational
after school programs involving tutoring.
Alicia Holman's solution was to turn it back into the
elementary school that Royston Allman had said he wanted for the
fifth ward. She went further and suggested the same be done with
all of the abandoned school b uildings around the city.
The debate was held in St. John's United
Methodist Church, formerly called the Park Avenue Methodist
Church, and it looks very much like it did in this postcard photo
circa 1900. The church is located on the corner of Park Avenue
and Grove Street and was built in 1898.
