Election season is upon us. Last night the Village of Camden hosted the first forum of the mayoral primary. Analysis to come, but here are the basics: frontrunner and City Council President did not attend. Challengers Theo Spencer and Ray Lamboy both did. I’ve included video broken down by individual question, so you can see where they stand on individual issues. Ray Lamboy won the straw poll 28, with Theo Spencer getting 11 votes, and both Frank Moran and Amir Khan (not running) receiving a single vote. 

Part of the mission of this blog is to create more transparent and open dialogue, so I’m going to share these videos without any analysis — but don’t worry, there will be a follow-up post that dives into the issues presented here and analyzes both the positions presented and the horse race aspects of the forum. 

Opening Statement by Theo Spencer: 

Opening Statement by Ray Lamboy: 

Question on job security and union jobs: 

What are your main objectives as mayor? 

How will you involve the community? 

Questions on resident challenges in seeking government assistance: 

Youth, recreation and summer jobs: 

How can you help city residents become small business owners? 

On supporting young adults trying to go to college: 

On a democratic school board and charter schools: 

Methadone clinic: 

Black community and help for ex-convicts: 

On the Transportation Center, potholes and loitering: 

On the cost of the County Police Force: 

On the county running additional services: 

On Camden High: 

On keeping promises about employment opportunities: 

On qualifications to be mayor: 

On not engaging the audience during the break: 

On the comparison with City Council President Frank Moran (not present): 

On school lunches: 

On splitting the vote and dropping out of the race: 

The straw poll results: 

Would love to hear your thoughts, whether they come in the form of a comment or a guest post! I’ll be writing publishing my own analysis of the forum later this week. 

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