Things are not looking good this year for mayoral debates in Ansonia or Derby — or at least ones that involve this publication.
In Derby, Mayor Rich Dziekan’s campaign Thursday turned down an invitation to debate his challenger, Brian Coppolo, at The Valley Indy office in an event that would have been livestreamed on the web.
After Dziekan’s campaign said no, Coppolo’s campaign quickly sent word that although they, like Dziekan, were very busy but were willing to move things around to make something happen. But neither side was chomping at the bit, as it took a week and two emails to get an answer from the campaigns.
“I believe the Dziekan Campaign contacted the Democrats weeks ago regarding a possible debate,” Chuck Pyne, Dziekan’s campaign manager, said in an email Thursday. “It is also my understanding there was no response. That said, the Dziekan Campaign made other plans for the balance of the campaign and have commitments that take up right up to Election Day. So Mayor Dziekan will not be able to participate in a debate/discussion.”
Allen Coppolo, who doubles as Brian Coppolo’s campaign manager and father, responded in an email: “I have never been contacted by the Dzieken campaign in this regard. In fact, I have never had any direct contact with Mr. Pyne to date. Like the Dzieken team, we also have a full schedule, but we can rearrange our schedule to accommodate as we feel this would be an important opportunity to contrast the vision and competencies of the two candidates. We can do this late evening hours after regularly scheduled events, and in fact would prefer to do so, if that can help accommodate Mayor Dzieken’s schedule.”
(Update: Jim Petrino, Dziekan’s previous campaign manager, sent an email to The Valley Indy Friday showing he reached out to Coppolo’s campaign and Derby Democrats in August about organizing a debate. He said he never heard back.)
Dziekan and Coppolo did, however, sit down with The Valley Indy to record separate podcast interviews. Click here to listen to Dziekan’s interview, and click here to listen to Coppolo’s interview.
In Ansonia, Mayor David Cassetti’s campaign agreed to come to The Valley Indy office to debate his challenger, Alderman Phil Tripp, in a livestream event, though an official date was not set. Tripp’s campaign declined, saying they wanted to have a debate at Ansonia High School.
Tripp’s campaign and the Ansonia Democratic Town Committee then emailed a letter to Mayor David Cassetti Thursday as an “official debate request.”
“We are encourage to see the amount of interest in this campaign and want the residents to be as informed as much as we possibly can,” read the letter, which was written by Tarek Raslan, the city’s Democratic leader, and Lisa Glazer, Tripp’s campaign manager.
John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel and Cassetti campaign adviser, was cc’d on the email from the Dems. He responded with an email saying Cassetti had already answered in the affirmative to The Valley Indy in-house debate.
“The Cassetti campaign has already accepted the offer of a debate with the Valley Independent Sentinel. Your candidate immediately declined,” Marini wrote. “If you are interested in a debate, the Mayor remains willing to debate on video with the Sentinel. The Mayor is prepared to debate as early as Monday. Please let us know.”
Glazer, from Tripp’s campaign, responded by saying the high school, in front of a live audience, is a more appropriate venue.
“I’m happy to hear that Mr Cassetti is ready to debate as soon as Monday. So is Lt. Col Tripp,” Glazer said. “As we told you before, we feel that all residents should be able to take part in the process and that would exclude a good portion of our community. In the interest of these residents, we think a live debate at the high school will be the best venue. We want to ensure everyone can see both candidates and the community can interact with both of them. We can certainly video that so we can post it online.”
It remains to be seen whether the two campaigns will be able to work something out. However, both Cassetti and Tripp agreed to do separate Valley Indy podcast episodes. The Valley Indy will cover a debate in Ansonia, if the two campaigns can pull it off.
Since launching 10 years ago, The Valley Indy has hosted First Selectman and Mayoral debates on live radio, podcasts, streaming video, and in public in front of an audience.
The one-person crew, facing contested top of the ticket races in Derby and Ansonia, along with a major borrowing referendum in Seymour, opted not to plan, organize, secure a location, moderate, and stream debates this year in front of an audience.
The planning effort for Valley Indy traditional, ‘in public’ debates usually takes two months or so.
Instead, the publication was hoping to moderate and livestream mayoral debates in Ansonia and Derby on the web, which was done in 2017 with Mayor Cassetti and then challenger Raslan. That stream was watched by about 5,000 people.
Getting candidates to debate can be like herding cats. Campaigns often posture, throw out dates then pull them back, and negotiate over everything from where to sit to where flags should be placed.
It is another reason why media outlets try to pin candidates down by having them appear at no frills in-house events, such as newspaper editorial board interviews. Questions are not given in advance, and the media outlet sets the rules, with the campaigns agreeing.
In 2017, the GOP and Democratic campaigns in Ansonia had a tough time pulling off a public debate,
but the candidates eventually showed up for a forum where high school students asked questions.
Here is a chronological list of debates organized by The Valley Indy since 2009 (municipal elections are every two years):
Oct. 27, 2011: A debate at Seymour High School with three candidates for First Selectmen: Jeanne Loda, Kurt Miller and incumbent Paul Roy
Oct. 25, 2013: A debate at Ansonia High School with Mayor James Della Volpe and challenger David Cassetti
Oct. 19, 2015: A debate live on WNHH-LP FM between Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto and challenger Rich Dziekan, posted afterward as podcast on ValleyIndy.org
Oct. 26, 2015: A debate live on WNHH-LP FM between Ansonia Mayor Cassetti and challenger Edward Adamowski, posted afterward as podcast on ValleyIndy.org
Sept. 8, 2017: A debate recorded as a podcast between Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto and challenger Carmen DiCenso prior to a Derby Democratic primary
Oct. 9, 2017: A debate livestreamed on Facebook from The Valley Indy office between Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and challenger Tarek Raslan. Also posted as a podcast.
Oct. 24, 2017: A debate at Derby High School with Mayor Anita Dugatto and challenger Rich Dziekan. It was the first public mayoral debate in more than 20 years.
