Lynn mayor candidates may debate on Sept. 2

LYNN – A local community activist group is trying to organize a town meeting-style debate among the city’s three mayoral candidates on Sept. 2, only days before the preliminary election.Candidates Judith Flanagan Kennedy and David Rohnstock have accepted the invitation from the East Lynn Community Association. Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. acknowledged Monday he has received an invitation to the event but remains undecided.”I haven’t responded,” Clancy said. “It’s under consideration.”Only Clancy and Rohnstock will have their names on the Sept. 15 preliminary election ballot, while Kennedy runs as a write-in candidate with a sticker campaign. The preliminary decides which two candidates will face off in November.”I’ll be there,” said Rohnstock, a financial investments manager who moved from Gloucester to Lynn two years ago. “Right now we’re not perfectly clear on the format, though we have been told it will be run like a town meeting, with a question-and-answer session from the audience and with each candidate allowed to give a brief talk on their views at the start.”The debate will be held at the Temple Abahat Shalom, 151 Ocean St., at 7 p.m.Tom Sheehan, a representative from the neighborhood association, said the debate is open to the public, noting that each candidate will be allowed to answer the same question from the audience within a prescribed time limit.Questions can also be submitted by email prior to the debate, addressed to [email protected], said Sheehan. The association’s board will review and choose the queries and those who submit questions selected for presentation at the debate will be given the opportunity to read them aloud, he said.Residents without phone or email access can send their questions to Sheehan, addressed to the East Lynn Community Association, 65 Essex St., Lynn, MA 01902.Sheehan said Kennedy was attending an Aug. 12 campaign fundraiser at the Blue Note Lounge when he invited her to participate in the debate. “Although her campaign manager, Dennis Liberge, told me she was interested, we thought it best to ask her in person,” he said. “I’m just glad that the people of Lynn have a choice this election cycle.”Kennedy could not be reached for comment Monday, but Liberge, her co-campaign manager along with Ken Weeks, confirmed the candidate will attend the debate.Flanagan, an attorney and former School Committee member, is also seeking re-election as a councilor-at-large where her name will appear on the ballot among the field of candidates.The association last month sponsored a forum for councilor-at-large candidates, among them Kennedy, City Council President Timothy Phelan, Daniel Cahill, Paul Crowley and challenger Eugene Schneeberg. The late Lynn mayor Patrick McManus also attended the previous forum as a member of the audience.Sheehan said the association was recently formed to work toward revitalizing the city.