Video: Morristown mayoral debate 2013

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, center, shares a laugh with GOP challenger Rich Babcock. Independent candidate Ed France is to their left. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, center, shares a laugh with GOP challenger Rich Babcock. Independent candidate Ed France is to their left. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Toggle among the videos by clicking playlist button.

For those of you who couldn’t attend on Thursday, your homework assignment is to watch these video clips of the Morristown mayoral debate. There will be a quiz on Monday.

Mayor Tim Dougherty, the Democratic incumbent, and challengers Rich Babcock (GOP) and Ed France (Independent) fielded questions submitted by audience members at the Alexander Hamilton School.

Marlene Sincaglia of the Berkeley Heights League of Women Voters moderated the forum, on Oct. 17, 2013.

Here is the breakdown of video clips:

OPENING STATEMENTS

QUESTIONS PART 1 OF 4

  • WHAT SEPARATES YOU FROM THE OTHER CANDIDATES?
  • HOW WILL YOU ADD MORE RECREATION FOR YOUTHS?
  • HOW WILL YOU MEET GROWTH NEEDS?
  • HOW WILL YOU BRING AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
  • HOW WILL YOU CUT SPENDING?

QUESTIONS PART 2 OF 4

  • HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE MORALE IN TOWN HALL?
  • WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND?

QUESTIONS PART 3 OF 4

  • WHY DO SOME NEIGHBORHOODS GET SPECIAL TREATMENT?
  • HOW MONITOR PHONE/ INTERNET ABUSE IN GOVERNMENT?
  • HOW DO YOU WANT TO DEFINE THE NEXT FOUR YEARS?

CLOSING STATEMENTS

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, center, shares a laugh with GOP challenger Rich Babcock. Independent candidate Ed France is to their left. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, center, shares a laugh with GOP challenger Rich Babcock, right. Independent candidate Ed France is to their left. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

 

3 COMMENTS

  1. Margret:

    I have no problem with what you say about the need for college degrees. I do, however, have a problem with people who overstate their qualifications, and the Mayor did. Maybe he’s a licensed plumber or the like, but he’s definitely NOT a “licensed engineer”. Moreover, he may not be a licensed anything. The professional licesing board in NJ maintains a website, and you can look up anyone who holds a current license. Dougherty’s name does not show up, period.

  2. The Mayor is licensed to be an engineer in his profession and gave an intelligent answer to a question intended to make him look less qualified than the other candidates with less experience in political office.
    He made it quite clear in the debate that he went to a trade school rather than college and that students should understand that college degrees were not the only way to measure success.
    Today a college degree is very expensive, especially for the student, who is not sure what career path he or she may chose.
    In many other countries trades like carpentry, plumbing, waiting tables or taking care of children and serving others are all considered professions and those who are skilled in their profession are looked up to and not considered less than a person with a degree. Often in fact, those with certain degrees are treated with suspicion and may be thought to be not as trustworthy.
    If our nation had to rely only on those with college degrees to function, it would grind to a halt.
    It was always a source of amusement in our family when frequently my father-in-law, a plumber and tradesman before licensing was required, was called to repair the equipment improperly designed or installed by architects or engineers with degrees but no practical knowledge of how their design could function.
    My own father had a long career with Bell Labs. He was hired as the result of an aptitude test before degrees were required. As shop foreman, he spent much of his career explaining to engineers how they could make their designs work and training those with degrees how to turn fantasy into reality.
    We need both the educated and the skilled to be a great nation. Let’s appreciate everyone who contributes to that goal.

  3. The mayor has variously described himself as a “Chief Engineer”, “mechanical engineer”, and in this debate he called himself a “licensed engineer”. Yet he also explained that he does not have a college degree. It’s possible to obtain a job title that uses the word “engineer” even if you’re not a degreed engineer, but it is absolutely not possible to be a licensed engineer in this state without the degree. Why does the mayor need to lie about his professional qualifications, and why does he apparently believe no one will call him out on it?

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