Editor’s note: Campaign Notebook is a periodic round-up of campaign and election news in the lead-up to the 2023 municipal elections in the city of Springfield.

City Council and mayoral candidates continue to connect with the residents of Springfield, primarily through community forums and media outreach.

Ward 6 City Council candidate Humberto Caro sent a statement to The Republican, explaining his reason for campaigning.

Opening a community center in the Forest Park area and offering services to all residents, especially young people, is one of Caro’s priorities.

Caro said he would propose policies to fight crime in Ward 6 and allocate mental health resources for the community.

“As a community, we need to fight the housing crisis,” Caro said. “As a city councilor, I will ally with other city councilors willing to lower taxes for the residents of Springfield.”

Mt. Zion Baptist Church hosted a mayoral candidate forum on Aug. 16.

Domenic J. Sarno, Justin Hurst, David Ciampi, Orlando Ramos and Jesse Lederman were all in attendance.

The candidates were asked what steps they would take to tackle police misconduct.

Ramos said he long advocated the use of body-worn cameras when he was the council’s president.

“I kept pushing and pushing and pushing to bring police body cameras to the city of Springfield for this very reason because we were just spending too much money on police misconduct cases,” Ramos said.

Ramos said he would, as mayor, work to improve the Police Department’s “use of force” policy.

Hurst said the city is in need of a new police superintendent. The current superintendent, Cheryl Clapprood, has had a decades-long career in law enforcement. “We need to make sure that we have a police chief that reflects the community and that we have a police chief that lives in the city of Springfield,” Hurst said.

Empowering the police commission to hold rogue officers accountable is another step Hurst said the city must take to reduce police misconduct cases.

Ciampi said the only way to mitigate police misconduct is through a genuine partnership between the police department and residents.

“There has to be transparency, that’s the only way that we’re going to establish genuine partnerships between the Springfield Police Department and people. If we don’t have that, it’s going to be very hard to fight crime,” Ciampi said.

Sarno said body-worn cameras have been the key to combating police misconduct and have resulted in a limited number of complaints. “I think the body-worn cameras, which I pushed for many years to get implemented, adds transparency,” Sarno said.

The mayor said the department has police officers of all colors, creeds and backgrounds who perform well every day. He said rogue cops have been held accountable and prosecuted.

Lederman highlighted the need for improving community policing. “We cannot improve community-police relationships when the federal government is here in the city of Springfield, one of only a handful across the United States requiring certain reforms,” Lederman said. “Now we must comply with those reforms. But we also must go further.”

Lederman said the Police Department needs to stand as an entity that is on the right side of history, one that residents can trust.

At-Large City Council Candidate Gerry Martin hosted a fundraiser at the Marconi Club last week.

Between 60 and 80 people showed up, according to Martin, who said close to $4,000 was raised.

Martin said he will continue to knock on doors and connect with as many residents as he can prior to the preliminary elections on Sept. 12.

Public safety is Martin’s biggest priority, he told The Republican.

“Without that, what else matters?” Martin asked. “I want to double down on community policing, having officers walk the same neighborhoods, talking to the same people and really being entrenched in our communities more than they already are.” He said that is needed to build long-term relationships.

Municipal candidates and others interested in sharing information about the municipal races in Springfield, such as events, announcements and statements, can email newsdesk@repub.com with the subject line Campaign Notebook.