Hamilton Post declines Yaede call to host debate
HAMILTON >> Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede and Democratic challenger Jeff Martin should face off in a Trentonian-sponsored debate, the Hamilton Post said Wednesday in an editorial.
“We believe — at this time and with such short notice — the Trentonian has the experience, the resources and the willingness to best pull off a mayoral debate,” the Hamilton Post said. “We encourage both candidates to do what is in the public interest, and agree to the Trentonian’s offer without hesitation or stipulations.”
The Hamilton Post, a Community News Service publication, published the editorial online and did so two days after Yaede had goaded them on social media.
“I believe the Hamilton Post would offer a fair and unbiased forum,” Yaede said Monday evening on her public Facebook page, where she formally requested the Hamilton Post to host a mayoral debate.
The publication, however, did not appreciate Yaede’s unexpected gesture.
“Her Facebook post blindsided us,” the Hamilton Post said, “particularly because it came before our staff had a chance to discuss internally whether the Hamilton Post wanted to sponsor its own debate, let alone iron out details with the candidates themselves. While we are honored the mayor thinks so highly of us, we feel the public manner of her request — particularly in pitting the Post against another media outlet — draws suspicion on the editorial integrity of any event sponsored by the Hamilton Post. We have always valued being an open and honest publication, editorially independent from political influence.”
Fully rejecting the mayor’s request, the Hamilton Post had instead called for a Trentonian-sponsored, no-holds-barred debate between Yaede and Martin, saying “everything should be fair game during a mayoral debate.”
Yaede declined The Trentonian’s debate proposal on Tuesday — “I will not participate in any events promoting The Trentonian” — and she stuck by her guns Wednesday even after the Hamilton Post urged her to accept The Trentonian’s invitation.
“I am not swayed from my position to not participate in a debate held by the Trentonian,” the mayor said Wednesday in a statement. “The support of my decision has been overwhelming.”
Yaede strongly disapproves of Trentonian columnist L.A. Parker’s social media commentary. She specifically cited one of Parker’s tweets in which he described her as a “Caucasian damsel in distress” with “serious issues with black people.”
Trentonian columnist Jeff Edelstein had offered to moderate a debate between Yaede and Martin and remains prepared to proceed should the mayor reconsider her position.
“To see the Hamilton Post, a well-respected community newspaper, having to defend its coverage of the mayor’s race is indicative of the political harassment realized by individuals, organizations and media outlets not engaging in partisan nonsense,” Yaede said Wednesday in her statement. “I indeed have agreed to debate, furthermore I enjoy debating as exemplified by my Board of Education, Council and Mayoral elections.”
David Henderson, the Republican challenger who ran unsuccessfully against Yaede in the June 4 primary election, said Yaede is not interested in debating with anyone.
“She refused to debate me, because she doesn’t want to debate,” he said Wednesday of the incumbent mayor. “She has no record to stand on, she has no plan moving forward and she has no grasp of the issues. She’s a fake and a fraud, so of course she is not going to debate me or Jeff Martin or an eighth grader. She’s not going to debate anyone. She just wants to attack.”
When Yaede visited a group of Hamilton High School West students last month, she referred to Henderson as a “racist, misogynistic, anti-Muslim individual,” according to a recording obtained by The Trentonian.
Vinnie Capodanno, a Team Yaede Republican running for Hamilton Council, said the mayor must participate in a mayoral debate between now and November, but he also supports the mayor’s decision to rebuff The Trentonian.
“She has to debate,” Capodanno said of Yaede, “and I would be very, very unhappy if she don’t debate, because I know what she’s capable of. I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t think Martin in his wildest dreams would know what he would be in for. It would be hard for me to debate her. She’s been in politics since the school board to the council to the mayor. This woman has a lot of knowledge, and I don’t think Martin realizes what he would be up against.”
“I remain ready to debate,” Martin said Wednesday, “and look forward to The Trentonian hosting it.”
Capodanno, who has been hospitalized this week dealing with a toe infection, said he personally likes The Trentonian but said the mayor refuses to participate in a Trentonian-sponsored debate because the newspaper “has been really, really hard on her.”
WBCB radio personality Joe Fabrizi, a newly hired Hamilton Township inspector, has recently invited Yaede and Martin to participate in a radio studio debate but has heard nothing but radio silence.
“No response from either person,” Fabrizi said Wednesday of the mayoral candidates. “We’ll see what happens. I really don’t know why there is a reluctance to do that. I don’t understand.”
Dennis Pone, chairman of the Hamilton Township Republican Committee, suggests Mayor Yaede is not afraid to hop onto the debate stage with Martin, an Air Force veteran who currently serves as Hamilton Council president.
“Kelly has handily defeated every opponent she has ever faced in debates over the years,” Pone said Wednesday in a statement. “However it is my opinion that there is no way she should entertain a debate moderated by the Trentonian. The comments by Parker and [Trentonian news reporter Isaac] Avilucea, and the overall unfair and misogynistic treatment of Mayor Yaede make it an offer we must refuse. She is Hamilton’s hometown mayor and the piling on has to stop. The enormous support at her golf outing shows that many people agree.”
The seventh annual Mayor Kelly Yaede Golf Invitational fundraiser took place Wednesday at the Mercer Oaks Golf Course in West Windsor.