Brockton mayor defends record in debate; view story to see video

By Kyle Alspach
Enterprise staff writer

BROCKTON — The two mayoral challengers Thursday accused Mayor James Harrington of being an elusive and ineffective leader, targeting the incumbent in the only debate before the preliminary election.

Harrington, in turn, charged candidates Jass Stewart and Gayle Kelley with lacking the experience needed for the job.

But Stewart, a political newcomer who lost to Harrington in the 2005 election, argued that the mayor's experience hasn't helped the city.



“What I see is a city where crime is up, where unemployment is up, where foreclosures are out of control,” Stewart said Thursday night during the debate at the Brockton Community Access studio. “If that's the kind of experience this mayor is bringing to the table, we can do without that.”

Dozens of supporters for the candidates hollered and cheered near the studio before the start of the debate, prompting a spate of honking from passing drivers.

It was the only debate leading up to the Sept. 18 preliminary election, which will knock out one of the contenders.

The three candidates sought to distinguish themselves in an affair that grew heated at times. The debate was scheduled to last 90 minutes, but ran closer to two hours.

After Stewart claimed that an organization couldn't get its calls returned from Harrington, the mayor lashed out.

“It's easy for you to take a shot like that,” Harrington said to Stewart. “It's all that sound-bite rumor thing that you do all the time.”

At other points, both Stewart and Kelley accused the mayor of being inaccessible to the public.

“The majority of people can't get in to see you. Calls aren't returned,” Kelley said.

Stewart went further, saying there has been a “total sense of neglect” by Harrington of the mayor's position.

Harrington is serving his first term as mayor and spent 16 years on the City Council. During the debate, he repeatedly criticized his challengers for having never served in political office.

“If you have a situation where you're short $3 million, you've got to make a decision,” Harrington said. “Those are the kinds of decisions I'm suggesting that it's very difficult to do without experience.”

On the issue of crime, Harrington argued that it's others that need to take more responsibility. Brockton has seen 11 people, including three teenagers, killed this year.

Harrington said he recently addressed a group of Cape Verdean residents on the issue.

“One person stood up and said to me, 'Well, why is it a Cape Verdean problem?'” he recalled. “I said, 'Because your kids are killing each other, that's why.'”

Later, the mayor said he does not think crime is the biggest problem in the city. Rather, the biggest problem is the “perception” that Brockton is not a safe city, which he blamed on media reports.

The reports make some young people think they can get “15 minutes of fame” by committing violent acts, according to Harrington.

Stewart sought to paint himself as a fresh face in Brockton who would bring a departure from the “politics of favoritism,” which he said have plagued the city under Harrington's leadership. Stewart is founder and president of a design company, Invent Media, and a senior executive at the educational non-profit The Big Picture Company.

If elected, he would make history in two ways, becoming the first mayor who is a minority and the first mayor who is openly gay.

Kelley, meanwhile, said she boasts experience with diverse populations as cultural affairs director in Brockton. She defended her record of overseeing a deficit-plagued city concert by the B-52's in 2004, saying that ultimately “it cost the taxpayers no money.”

If elected, she would become Brockton's first female mayor.

On the issue of whether to allow a natural gas-fired power plant to be built in Brockton, only Harrington said he was open to the possibility. The mayor said he might support the project if it is deemed “environmentally safe for Brockton.”

Kelley argued that power plants aren't the type of business the city should be embracing, and Stewart said the industry is quickly becoming obsolete.

“The whole notion of burning fossil fuels is a thing of the past,” he said.

Stewart also disagreed with Harrington on the issue of OxyContin and heroin addiction in the city.

When The Enterprise asked the mayor why he hadn't held any public forums in the wake of the newspaper's award-winning “Wasted Youth” series, which showed a serious problem in Brockton, Harrington said the city was acting, but that parents of addicted children should look at themselves.

“There's something missing when people start taking these drugs,” he said.

Stewart sharply disagreed, saying he knew several “good” families caught up in addiction that needed help and direction, not blame.

Kelley said the key to attacking the problem is to prosecute drug dealers, not the users.

Kyle Alspach can be reached at kalspach@enterprisenews.com.