Tonight: Maplewood Township Committee Candidates Debate

The Hilton Neighborhood Association (HNA) will sponsor a candidates forum for the Maplewood Township Committee on Thurs., October 18 at 7:30 p.m. at DeHart Community Center, 120 Burnett Ave., Maplewood. 

Three candidates are running for two seats on the committee on Nov. 6. There are two Democratic incumbents -- Kathy Leventhal and Jerry Ryan -- and one Republican challenger, Art Gartenlaub. 

The term for each position is three years. This is Gartenlaub's second attempt at a Township Committee seat.

Read Patch profiles on each candidate here (listed in alphabetical order):

• Arthur Gartenlaub
• Kathy Leventhal
• Jerry Ryan

The candidates will respond to questions they have received prior to the meeting, and then will answer questions from the audience. Candidates will each have two minutes for an opening statement and two minutes for a closing statement. They each have 1.5 minutes to respond to each of the prepared questions. 

Questions will involve a range of topics including housing, taxes, crime, and what should happen with the Post Office site.

At last year's debate, the Republican candidates were a no-show. Debate moderator Carol Buchanan said that this year, "all three candidates have agreed to attend."

For more information, contact 973-761-4672 or cabms@aol.com.