Yaede agrees to radio debate hosted by employee
HAMILTON >> With the general election fast approaching, a policy debate between Republican Mayor Kelly Yaede and Democratic challenger Jeff Martin continues to be elusive if not wishful thinking.
Indeed, lip service prevails as both candidates advocate a full-fledged mayoral debate while failing to make it happen.
According to their public statements, Yaede and Martin both agree they should debate each other before Hamilton Township voters hit the polls and decide their fates Nov. 5. However, they still have not sealed the deal.
When invited to participate in a Trentonian-sponsored debate, Yaede rejected the offer because she dislikes this newspaper and preferred to debate Martin on friendlier turf.
WBCB 1490 a.m. radio host Joe Fabrizi, a newly hired Hamilton municipal employee, on Saturday confirmed Yaede is fully committed to participate in a debate moderated by him but said Martin has not yet accepted or rejected the offer.
“I did get a conformation email from Mayor Yaede,” Fabrizi told The Trentonian on Saturday. “She is interested in participating in a debate with her opponent on the 28th of October, which is a Monday, from 1 to 2:30, at WBCB.”
“Councilman Martin has also been apprised of that invitation,” Fabrizi said. “So far, I haven’t heard back from him one way or the other.”
Martin, 36, a Hamilton councilman who formerly served in the U.S. Air Force, questions whether Fabrizi is qualified to host a fair and unbiased debate.
“It’s no surprise that the only debate the mayor wants to participate in is when the moderator is someone she has personally hired and is someone who gets his paychecks signed by her,” Martin said Saturday in an interview with The Trentonian. “I haven’t responded to Mr. Fabrizi’s request given his clear conflict of interest and the fact that I have zero confidence that between his conflict of interest in getting paid by the township and getting hired by the mayor that he would provide a fair or unbiased forum.”
In addition to his radio gig, Fabrizi is a part-time Hamilton Township building inspector who investigates high grass and other property complaints. The Yaede administration hired him several weeks ago near the end of August, according to Dave Kenny, Hamilton’s business administrator.
Yaede, 51, is well-familiar with her constituent Joe Fabrizi, an old-school Hamilton Democrat.
When Fabrizi conducted a hands-off interview with Yaede on his “Opinions Matter” show last month, he allowed the mayor to speak her mind but failed to disclose his employment as a Yaede-hired municipal worker.
Fabrizi is also tight with Vinnie Capodanno, a lifelong Democrat who recently became a Team Yaede Republican and 2019 Hamilton Council candidate.
“I am eager to debate my opponent in a fair forum because he is wrong on the real issues impacting Hamiltonians,” Yaede said recently before accepting Fabrizi’s Oct. 28 invitation. “I indeed have agreed to debate, furthermore I enjoy debating as exemplified by my Board of Education, Council and Mayoral elections.”
Capodanno 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.”
“If Martin doesn’t want to debate, it’s time to get the chicken out,” Capodanno said Saturday. “My feeling is that he just wants to lay back and think that he is going to be handed the mayor’s race without telling the people in this town what he is all about.”
But Martin says he is no chicken.
“I stand ready and willing to participate in any debate or forum that The Trentonian or Jeff Edelstein would be willing to sponsor,” Martin said Saturday, referring to the newspaper’s columnist. “I think Jeff Edelstein has been nothing but fair in his coverage of Hamilton. I don’t see any reason why Jeff serving as moderator for a debate, especially in a debate where none of the mayor’s past scandals can be talked about, would be a forum she would turn down.”
At this rate, a debate between Yaede and Martin will remain a fantasy unless both candidates decide otherwise. The clock is ticking.
When President Donald Trump successfully ran for president in 2016, he participated in three debates against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, including one moderated by Martha Raddatz of ABC and Anderson Cooper of CNN, outlets loathed by Trump as “fake news media.”
Yaede is pro-Trump, but unlike the commanderin-chief, she is not willing to participate in a debate hosted by an organization she perceives as biased.
The mayor serves as CEO of Hamilton Township, effectively making her Joe Fabrizi’s boss. Martin blasted the mayor for rejecting The Trentonian’s invitation only to accept a Fabrizimoderated debate, saying, “This would be the equivalent of President Donald Trump only agreeing to do an interview on Fox News.”