Norristown: a Meet the Candidates Forum Recap

Candidates for Norristown borough municipal council and Norristown Area School District school board director addressed the public in a meet-the-candidate forum held at the Centre Theater in Norristown on the evening of Oct. 24 where the public submitted questions to the four candidates running for at-large positions for the council and the six candidates running for positions for the Norristown Area School District school board.

The forum, which took place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., began with the candidates briefly introducing themselves. Afterwards they responded to questions from the audience.

The theater donated space for the event, which was moderated by a member of the Philadelphia League of Women Voters. The Norristown Men of Excellence and the Norristown Nudge and sponsored the forum.

There is one two-year council-at-large position sought by democrat Olivia Brady and libertarian Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio. Additionally, there are two seats open for council-at-large positions with four-year terms, sought by democrat Derrick Perry, democrat and current councilman Marlon Miller and republican Sue Soriano. Soriano was not at the forum.

There are six candidates running for four Norristown Area School District school board director seats, and all participated in the forum. Attending were current board president Pamela Assenmacher, Ken Christovich, Tiffani Hendley, Turea Hutson, Matthew Rivera, and current board director E. Pearl Smith.

Below is a report of the forum. Candidates were allotted three minutes for opening remarks and two minutes to answer a question.

School Board candidate introduction:

Matthew Rivera, school board: “We believe in early childhood education, responsible finances and the socioeconomic concerns of our students.”

E. Pearl Smith, school board: “My main reason is for student achievement, and this is my number one priority,” she said. It has been her main focus in her four terms as school board director. “I hear that if they don’t end up in Penn state, they end up in state pen,” she said.

Turea Hutson, school board: She had an undiagnosed learning disability in high school, which helps fuel her. “I want to make a difference in the world and this gives me the opportunity to do so,” she said.

Pamela Assenmacher, school board: “I believe that I have the ability to be an advocate for our students and lead education reform throughout our district,” she said. She said that they cannot continue to wait for funding assistance and they need to find other funding sources and provide tools for students to pursue further education or training.

Tiffani Hendley, school board: She said that she is a Norristown native who attended  Norristown schools. She is a single mother raising a son who goes to Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy in Norristown. “I was one of those who wanted to take my son out of the Norristown Area School District,” she said  “I‘m looking forward to giving back.” According to Hendley her son is in the gifted program at the middle school. “He told me ‘Mom, you can do it,’ so I told him ‘Son, I’m going to do it, “ she said She  said that she wants to increase parent involvement in the district. 

Ken Christovich, school board: He said that his commitment to the success to their students has involved many hours reading policy, textbooks, and more. He said that he is familiar with forums about students experience in school. “I want every school board meeting to be recorded and available in a variety of mediums,” he said.

Borough Council candidate introduction:

Marlon Milner, council: He said that he is running for his second and last term, and that he is running together as a team with Olivia Brady and Derrick Perry. “I’m running because I wanted to complete the work I started,” he said. “I got involved because there are things going on the community that I didn’t like,” he added.

Derrick Perry, council: He is running because he wants to strengthen public safety and wants to support the community. “I’ve knocked on a lot of doors and heard people say how bad they think Norristown is and how bad they want to move out of here,” he said According to Perry, Norristown is not growing and we need more business here.

Olivia Brady, council: She has lived in Norristown for almost 30 years .”I’m running because I want to make a difference. I have a vision,” she said. She has a vision where people feel safe, and where people want to come to Norristown.

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: she said that  is a 3rd generation Norristonian. “Naturally, I have put myself into Norristown for so many years just trying to see Norristown succeed and each time there was some sort of read block in the way,” she said. She is a libertarian. “I’m asking people to vote for me because it’s time for a change.” She said that she wants to know why the people of Norristown can’t meet their basic needs.

Council candidates where asked what qualities they should be looking for in finding a police chief:

Marlon Millner, council: He said that he served on the council committee that did the search for a police chief. He said that he met a Baltimore chief of police who cut their  crime in half. “We’re going to hire a police chief who has shown that you can have clean and safe streets without doing stop and frisk and other things that are unconstitutional,“ he said. He said that bough council will shortly announce the new police chief.

Derrick Perry, council: He said that he was on a committee board when new police chiefs came to meet in Norristown and, according to Perry, one person stood out. “Our youths are the ones who are suffering here,” Perry said. He said that families also suffer due to arrests over sometimes “frivolous things.”

Olivia Brady, council: She said that she was at the same conference. “The thing that I’m really looking for is someone who wants to be engaged in the community and who wants to understand the community,” she said. They need someone creative, she added.

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: “I just wanted to point out that I can’t always say everything is wonderful and I think thinks have dragged on too long and even have this question being asked now,” she said. She said they had three candidates and that those in charge dragged their feet in making a decision. “I’m disgusted that there is no chief of police yet,” she said.

School Board candidates were asked how with low funding, can the candidates ensure a quality education for students:

Turea Hutson, school board: “I think being creative and learning to work with the community and local businesses, that could be a way to close the funding gap right now,” she said.

E. Pearl Smith, school board: She said that the district is obtaining other funding. “TD bank just gave over $100,000 to the school district,” she said.

Matthew Rivera, school board: “There’s a lot of changes that need to be made, working with businesses and working with private citizens,” he said. He said this can be done in a creative way. “There’s 9 people in our school board and they have to come together to make things work,” he said.

Ken Christovich, school board: “Being free from No Child Left Behind, they really need to go into the guts of the budget created to meet federal mandates, and lets try trimming some of that stuff out,” he said. “I think it gives us some room to go back and examine what we’re spending because of some of those mandates,” he added.

Council candidates were asked to respond to the complaint that Norristown has a huge problem with parking violations:

Olivia Brady, council: “I think it’s important for us to look at our municipality and look at the amount of parking available,” she said. Brady said that they then need to and then install a system into place that addresses the parking issue.

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: She said that there was a parking study done by some of the officers a few years ago about West Marshall Street. “We’re a struggling community and we should not be sucking the life out of people due to parking.,” she said.  She said that there are studies but no one has addressed this issue. “I think we should take the parking meters away. We’re losing businesses because of the parking, she said.”

Marlon Millner, council: He said that he has consistently called for parking reform.  “I think there ought to be a community planning process about the areas around the closed Montgomery hospital, he said.” He said that Norristown is an urban area and not a suburban area. “We have to realize that when we talk about these issues they are often connected to other formidable challenged in our area,” he said.

School board candidates were asked when did they go to one of the district’s middle or elementary schools, and they were asked for the number of times that attended a school board meeting since February:

Tiffani Hendley, school board: She said that she has not attended school board meetings regularly due to a calendar conflict, but she goes to her son’s school often.

Pamela Assenmacher, school board: She said that she has been attending school board meetings for the past 10 years due to her having a child in the district and her school board duties. She said that she works full time but goes to school open houses and similar events.

E. Pearl Smith, school board: Smith said that in the past 12 years or so she has only missed about three school board meetings. She said that she also visits various schools.

Turea Hutson, school board: She said that she does not have a tally of school board meetings, but she attends when she can. She said that she went to the J.K. Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown.

Matthew Rivera, school board: He said that he attends school board meetings as much as he can and he helps his two young kids with their homework. He goes to BoardDocs online (the district’s online document system) to follow along with meetings. He said that he goes to East Norristown Middle School both in the day and for evening events, and that the goings-on in schools and classrooms are important to help them understand how to go forward. He said that he tries to volunteer at the Paul V. Fly Elementary School for events.

Ken Christovich, school board: “I’m a bit disappointed that some of my opposition didn’t answer the question of how many meetings,” he said. “I will say 10 to 12.” He also said that good leadership “comes from knowledge and experience, not reading BoardDocs.”

Council candidates were asked what they would do to bring optimism back to council:

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: “I want people to get involved,” she said  She said that people should not complain until they have put themselves out there to do something. It is difficult to have a positive attitude after dealing with all of their taxes, she said.

Olivia Brady, council: “It’s a challenge to not get frustrated in the day to day apathy, the day-to-day negativity that I see,” she said. She said that she believes that people need to find a sense of pride by being there.

Derrick Perry, council: “When I first started I was asked by a gentleman sitting in the stands to say to run for this position,” he said. According to Brady, it took him two months to answer the man. Perry said that he talked to council members and ex-council members about the turnaround in Norristown. “I was a basketball player and so I know what teams means,” he said. He also said that he does not have an agenda and just wants to do what’s right for Norristown.

Council candidates were asked what will help them hold onto optimism and combat the sense of dread, while allowing them to have a vision:

Marlon Millner, council: He said that he does not have a sense of dread. He said that that there is sometimes a misunderstanding between council and community at meetings; “We need to find effective ways to show residents how we make the tough choices,” he said.

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: “I’m coming after this seat because I feel that we need better communications in council,” she said. “Nowadays you don’t have the ability to ask questions; it’s always by making a written request for Right to Know,” she said.  She said that is aggravating to sit through a council session where council is not paying attention to the public, which is not giving respect to the public.

School Board candidate Pamela Assenmacher was asked how the board will do more for Latino students:

Pamela Assenmacher, school board: She said that Gotwals Elementary School has many programs for Latino students and they are making efforts to translate their board meetings. She said more parents of Latino students come to their school buildings now.

School Board candidate Turea Hutson was asked which Norristown-area schools she went to and her take on the financial burdens for the district:

Turea Hutson, school board: She said that she attended Cole Manor Elementary School. She said that they needed to educate students despite financial burdens, and that she brings “a fresh perspective.”

School Board candidate Ken Christovich was asked about the district’s financial burdens:

Ken Christovich, school board: “We can’t even get seats for the stadium because we don’t have that kind of tax base,” he said. He said they need to go to Harrisburg and do something about the state House Bill 76.

Various candidates were asked to address the issue of what is said to be a disproportionate amount of taxes paid in Norristown borough:

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: She said that businesses were being lost in Norristown due to the King of Prussia Mall and Plymouth Meeting mall. She said that 15% of Norristown is section 8 housing. She also said that the borough needs to more aggressively collect the taxes owed to it.

Marlon Millner, council: “It’s a stereotype that Norristown somehow is only collecting 20% or 60% or 70% of the taxes owned it,” he said. “It is more like 95%.” He also addressed the issue of immigration and how it may affect taxes. “I support comprehensive immigration reform, and rather than demonizing people,” he said. He said that people should be given a pathway to citizenship or legal residence to work and then taxes can be collected from them. He said that he wants to bring immigrants out of the shadows.

Pamela Assenmacher, school board: “Until we elect people in our state who will change the funding formula to reallocate where the funds go, the burdens will fall on local governments,” she said. She said that they are aware of their tax base in their three municipalities, saying that “we are not going to continue to cut programs that can educate our students,” but saying that they may reallocate.

E. Pearl Smith, school board: “Right now we have a black eye because of funding. And that’s because of the governor we have now,” she said. She added that the former governor Ed Rendell worked with schools.

Matthew Rivera, school board: If they are waiting on things to happen in Harrisburg to help, then the waiting might not be that productive, he said. “We need to find those creative solutions today, now, in the world we live in. We know what happens in Washington to wait for something to happen,” he said.

Ken Christovich, school board: He said that he has been to many meetings where school board members say that their hands are tied.

Council candidates were asked how they will ensure that the community is informed about public meetings:

Mary Ellen Early-DiGregorio, council: She said that she would update the website. She also said that people have been criticizing the local media.

Olivia Brady, council: She said that she would like to see more in the local newspaper and they should update Norristown’s website.

Derrick Perry, council: He said that council should do somewhat better and he joked about putting the information up on a billboard at Main Street and Markley Street.

School Board candidates were asked that, if Norristown is trying to reinvigorate itself as a community for the arts, what can the schools do about that, and their slipping athletics:

Matthew Rivera, school board: He said that they need to recruit parents and volunteers to be involved. He said that his wife recently went to one of the schools schools and put up photos of last year’s musicians and that this helps get kids involved.  He said that they need to bring involvement for arts and sports back in the elementary and middle schools.

Tiffani Hendley, school board: She said that when she was in high school they were involve in arts. “We have to encourage kids in arts and sports,” she said.

E. Pearl Smith, school board: She said that, now that they don’t have much sports in the lower level, it affects their teams in the upper levels. She said that they need to come up with a program. 

Council candidates were told that Norristown has the largest populations of African Americans and Latinos in Montgomery county, and they were asked how they will react to this:

Marlon Millner, council: He said that the Supreme Court said it is unconstitutional to do something regarding percentages of populations.  But he said that the state has a strong Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program for recruiting and retaining minorities like minorities, woman, veterans.

Olivia Brady, council: She said that she would like to see non-discrimination language put into the borough ordinances.

School Board candidates were asked how they plan to address the lack of minority teachers in the district:

E. Pearl Smith, school board: She said that they do need minority teachers and administrators. “I do think our students need more Africans Americans as teachers,” she said.

Pamela Assenmacher, school board: She said that the district said they need highly-qualified teachers on their staff and they do not discriminate against anyone. She said that they have been discussing the need for other outreach programs. They have hired Spanish language teachers at Gotwals Elementary School, she said. She said that the district they has a diverse group of teachers.

Matthew Rivera, school board:  He said that when you look at diversity you don’t just focus on ethnic diversity; there is also a diversity regarding experience. He said that they should encourage their kids to eventually be teachers in their community.

Turea Hutson, school board: She brought up the point that she knows teachers who considered working in Philadelphia or another town in the suburbs, but not Norristown.