NEWS RELEASE

Release Date: August 2, 2005

SALEM, MA: The Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations announced today that five candidates forums have been scheduled from August through October to give Salem voters opportunities to hear the city's mayoral and at-large councilor candidates answer questions about important city issues. All of the forums will be aired on Channel 16 by Salem Access Television, and all are free and open to the public.
Three of the forums will be sponsored by city neighborhood groups.
Two forums, one pre-primary and the other pre-election, will be jointly sponsored by the Salem News, Historic Salem, Inc. and the Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations.

At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 9th, the South Salem Neighborhood Association will lead off the series with a moderated forum featuring the three mayoral candidates: Kim Driscoll, Kevin Harvey, and Stan Usovicz, the incumbent. The forum will be held at the new recital hall in the business school building on the Central Campus of Salem State College at Loring Square. The first half of the forum will focus on questions about traffic, parking, and roadway issues in Salem and is provocatively headlined, "Will Traffic Kill Salem?" The forum's second half will be on open topics with questions to the candidates submitted from the audience.

On Tuesday, August 16th, at 7:00 p.m., residents of Ward 4/Gallows Hill and the Federal Street Association are joining together to host the mayoral candidates for an open forum at the AOH Hall at 104 Boston Street. This forum will feature questions on open topics to Candidates Kim Driscoll, Kevin Harvey and Stanley Usovicz, the incumbent. Speaking for the two sponsors, Mary Anne Silva noted, "This forum presents an opportunity for us, as neighborhood groups, to address the issues which are important to our neighborhoods as well as to the future of the City of Salem as we look at electing a Mayor in 2005."

The Salem Common and Historic Derby Street Neighborhood Associations will jointly host an open forum of the three mayoral and five at- large councilor candidates on Wednesday, September 7th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Ballroom at the Hawthorne Hotel. This evening will feature wide-ranging questions on important Salem issues. Former HDSNA co- chair, Linda Haley, said, "We are delighted to be able to offer such a wonderful venue as the Hotel Hawthorne ballroom, and to involve both Mayoral and Councilor-At-Large candidates

In advance of the city's Primary Election on Tuesday, September 20th, the Salem News; Historic Salem, Inc. (HSI); and the Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations will sponsor two pre-election candidates forums. The pre-primary forum is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Bowditch School, 79 Willson St. During the first half of the forum, panelists from the three sponsoring organizations will ask questions of the candidates on a variety of issues that are important to Salem's citizens. The second half of the forum will feature questions that have been submitted by the audience.

The second of these jointly sponsored forums will be held just in advance of the Election, which is on Tuesday, November 8th. This final forum will be on Wednesday, October 26th, at 7:00 p.m. also at the Bowditch School, 79 Willson St., just down the street from the Salem High School. The first half of this forum will be between the two mayoral candidates who advanced from the September primary, and the second half of the forum will be among the five candidates running for the at-large councilor slots. Further details of the final two forums will be announced closer to those dates.

Salem's mayor serves a 4-year term and its city councilors serve for two years. The deadline to register to vote in the Tuesday, September 20th primary is Wednesday, August 31st, and the deadline to register for the Tuesday, November 8th election is Thursday, October 19th. The election polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For further event information, contact:

Polly Wilbert, Co-Coordinator,
The Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations and Member, South Salem Neighborhood Association August 9th Forum Contact:
HPh: 978-745-1017
E-Mail: pwilbert@bvlp.com

Ward 4/Gallows Hill and Federal Street Association August 16th Forum Contact:
Mary Anne Silva
Ph: 978-744-6471
E-Mail: masilva@comcast.net

Salem Common and Historic Derby Street Neighborhood Associations September 7th Contacts:
Salem Common Neighborhood Association
Michael Coleman
Ph: 978-745-3086
E-Mail: michaelinsalem@webtv.net
Historic Derby Street Neighborhood Association Stan Franzeen
Ph: 978-594-5944
E-Mail: derbyststan@yahoo.com