Last month, the Valley Independent Sentinel sent an email to both mayoral candidates proposing a debate to be moderated by them as an independent and impartial publication.
The proposal was extremely thorough and fair.
The format was designed to have four questions asked of each candidate, allowing ample time for each candidate to answer the questions, and also gave the opponent sufficient time to rebut.
Some of the questions were to be selected from suggestions of the readers of the Valley Indy.
Mayor Staffieri has again declined the opportunity for a public debate.
He is again imposing a disservice on the voters of Derby by not providing them with an opportunity to hear responses to unbiased questions from the voters.
Prior to declining the invitation, Judy Szewczyk, Tony Staffieri’s campaign manager, agreed to the fairness of the proposal by saying, “the ground rules you suggest are fair and I like the scenario.”
Within three hours of receiving the invitation, Rob Hyder, my campaign publicist, responded by saying, “We gladly accept the proposal as outlined and look forward to finalizing the details for a date, time and place.”
In 2009, Mayor Staffieri repeatedly refused to debate me, depriving the voters of Derby the opportunity to hear our campaign platforms in an open forum. Two years ago, he claimed to reject the debate invitation because he felt my campaign prearranged the details.
That was clearly not the case.
So why is Mayor Staffieri again choosing to avoid a debate?
He claims he will take his platform door-to-door. What if someone isn’t home? Also, Mayor Staffieri can say one thing to one house in the 1st Ward while conveying a different message in the other wards.
By debating, voters will get a much better perspective by attending the debate, reading about it in the newspapers or watching an online video of it.
Mayor Staffieri is once again providing a disservice to the electorate of Derby by avoiding a major component of the electoral process.
My platform is no secret. I laid it all out on the table during my acceptance speech. I have genuine and substantial thoughts, ideas and proposals to make Derby a better place to live.
This is Mayor Staffieri’s opportunity to oppose my platform, but he is again choosing not to.
By not accepting the debate invitation from the Valley Independent Sentinel this year, I view the decline as an endorsement of my plans for Derby.
During Mayor Staffieri’s inauguration speech in 2009, he stated, “[Dan Foley] offered
competition of thought, which promotes better government for all. I invite him to continue giving of his mind and thought, but, no debate.”
That comment about no debate made a mockery of the entire election process.
In 2005 as the challenger, Tony Staffieri debated. Ever since, with a record to defend, he chooses not to debate. What is he hiding?
Should Mayor Staffieri change his mind and accept the invitation for an impartial debate, I am ready, willing and able.
The writer is a Democrat running for Derby mayor.
Editor’s note: The Valley Indy welcomes ‘guest columns’ from those running for local office. We take each submission on a case-by-case basis. We’ll print up to two a month per candidate. We ask that the columns offer positions and solutions, as opposed to simply criticizing an opponent. We insist on a 500-word limit. If a political opponent takes issue with a guest column, responses are encouraged in our comment section. We encourage candidates to register with Facebook with your first and last name to post a response here. We will not post your responses for you.
