Debates to give Lynn residents chance to meet and greet participants

LYNN – A series of debates are scheduled to take place over the next two weeks to better inform residents of the candidates for Councilor at Large and School Committee seats for the upcoming election on Nov. 6.Lynn resident Ben Runyon said he decided to orchestrate the upcoming events with the help of his pastor Kurt Lange of East Coast International Church at 113 Chestnut St. to give residents an opportunity to meet and greet the candidates.Two debates will be held – one for Councilor at Large candidates on Oct. 18 and another for School Committee candidates on Oct. 24.Both will take place from 7-9 p.m. at the Washington Street Baptist Church at 256 Washington St. The events are free and open to the public.”This really came out of conversations with my pastor (Lange) because we didn’t know of any others that were going to take place,” he said. “I also didn’t know very much about the candidates and I thought it would be a good idea to get informed.”Runyon said there isn’t one group in particular that is sponsoring the event, but rather a number of groups taking part.Among them are Neighbor to Neighbor, ECCO (Essex County Community Organization), Greater Lynn Council of Churches, the Highlands Neighborhood Group, College Application Education Program, which is a part of ECCO, and several local church groups.A moderator will ask each of the candidates a series of three predetermined questions that were selected based upon input from the supporting organizations.”We aren’t going to have ward councilor candidates debate because there really wasn’t too much of a race going on,” Runyon said. “We’re going to mainly deal with the areas with more competition.”A meet and greet segment will take place following the question and answer period, in which Runyon said residents will have the opportunity to ask the candidates their own questions in a relaxed atmosphere.”This really is the only chance that residents have as of now to hear the candidates,” he said. “So far, pretty much all of the School Committee and Councilor at Large candidates have said they would be there for the debate.”Councilor At-Large candidates taking part in the debate are: incumbent City Council President Timothy Phelan, Judith Kennedy Flanagan, Incumbent Councilor at Large Paul Crowley, Daniel Cahill, Stephen Duffy and Gary Roach.School Committee candidates taking part in the debate are: Vincent Spirito, incumbent Donna Coppola, incumbent Patricia Capano, incumbent John E. Ford, Donald Castle, Maria Carrasco, Jeffrey Newhall, Charlie Gallo, John Krol and George Meimeteas.