Freeman-Daniels and Levinson agreed that the current charter reform discussions should invest more power in the city council and less in the mayor.
The Meadows section in Northampton's Ward 3.NORTHAMPTON – In their only scheduled debate, the two candidates in a special election to fill the Ward 3 City Council seat pulled no punches Tuesday, each criticizing the other for their positions and campaign tactics.
Financial advisor Owen Freeman-Daniels, 31, and Dr. Arnold G. Levinson, a 70-year-old retired orthodontist, are vying for the seat left vacant by Angela D. Plassmann, who resigned amid controversy in April. The special election, which will cost an estimated $5,000-$10,000, will be on Aug. 2.
Both first-time candidates for elective office, Levinson and Freeman-Daniels have been active in the ward, Levinson as part of the Neighborhood Watch and Freeman-Daniels on the board of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association, which sponsored the event at Bridge Street School. Because both candidates have ties to the board, former Ward 5 city councilor Frances Volkmann was invited to moderate.
From the start, each candidate chastised the other for his stances. Levinson noted that Freeman-Daniels has said he would sit on the board of the Three County Fairgrounds Redevelopment Corporation, calling that a conflict of interest. Freeman-Daniels accused Levinson of not showing his hand on issues.
“My message is open and honest,” he said. “I have disclosed my views on policies. My opponent hasn’t.”
It was Levinson, however, who committed to supporting a mayoral candidate, saying he favors Michael A. Bardsley over David J. Narkewicz in the November election. Freeman-Daniels said it was too early for him to decide because neither mayoral candidate has put out a complete platform. Levinson called his answer “waffling.”
“We both know what their policies are,” he said of Narkewicz and Bardsley.
Freeman-Daniels replied that Bardsley has been at nearly every one of Levinson’s campaign appearances and suggested the two are “tied at the hip.”
“That doesn’t speak well to independence,” he said.
Both men agreed that the current charter reform discussions should invest more power in the city council and less in the mayor. Each also identified the rebuilding of the stormwater drainage system as among the most crucial infrastructure improvements in the ward. However, Freeman-Daniels said he would like the Meadows section be more open and accessible, while Levinson stressed respect for private property.
“I can’t believe you would take private land and turn it over to the public,” he said.
In response to a question about Hairston House, a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in the ward, Freeman-Daniels said he has spent time talking with people in the program and considers it “enormously valuable.” Levinson said he was not familiar with Hairston House.
Levinson has said that her admires Plassmann, whose short time in office was a lightning rod for opinion in the ward. In tendering her resignation, Plassmann charged that an unnamed city official was harassing her for political reasons. It subsequently came to light that the planning and building departments were looking into complaints that she had an illegal mobile home on her property.
Plassmann apparently removed the home, which disappeared from beside her house overnight, but refused to answer questions from the media. She has also threatened legal action against the city, although no suit has been filed to date.
Neither candidate addressed Plassmann’s resignation, although Freeman-Daniels characterized Levinson as an obstructionist who only recently started going to board meetings.
“He started to show up in all kinds of places he never wanted to go,” Freeman-Daniels said. “I don’t want to block the city as it moves forward.”