 "Photo: File photo")
City councilman Ezra Temko kicked off his re-election campaign Saturday with an event in his Newark home. Newark residents and students, along with Temko’s family and friends gathered for hors d’oeuvres, refreshments, coffee and desserts, while Temko announced his candidacy and talked with constituents.
Two years ago, Temko became Delaware’s youngest elected official after winning the city’s Fifth District as a 22-year-old graduate student at the university.
He said he has brought change and encouraged leadership in Newark, and began his speech Saturday by revisiting some of his accomplishments during his first term, which included an effort with Councilman Paul Pomeroy in creating the West Newark Civic League, his work in creating the Newark Fellows Program and a Citizens Academy.
Temko identified three areas in which he said his views set him apart from others on council. The first is community viability, which he emphasized by mentioning his work in creating the city’s first traffic calming committee and voting against increases in parks and recreation fees.
The other areas include environmental sustainability and good governance.
His campaign platform runs on the slogan, “Committed to Community,” describing his previous campaign techniques of going door-to-door and speaking with constituents and engaging with the community, something he said the council member who served before him did not do.
“I think that the way campaigns should be, especially on the local level, is grassroots, close personal contact,” Temko said in an interview.
He said he won his last election by engaging the community, being transparent about his views and running his campaign based on issues defines and he believes will bring him success in the upcoming one.
“I think that people responded very well to having somebody who keeps in touch with them and lets them know what’s going on,” he said. “People are looking for somebody who is committed to the community, who had a fresh perspective and who had a lot of ideas they were going to try to implement.”
Temko said his young age plays a role in his campaign. He said there were some who did not take him seriously during the first campaign because of his age and a conceived lack of experience. Temko said he has changed this thinking in many of his constituents and said there is a great number who support him because he is so young.
“In my last campaign, there were probably an equal or greater number of people who supported me off the bat because of my age, because they wanted new energy, new blood, a fresh perspective,” he said.
Temko said he believes he has a lot of support and is confident he will achieve success in April 13 election.
“I think that most people, overall, share the values that I have for our community,” he said. “I’m here to represent and to serve my constituents.”
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