Mayor James Davis’ absence from Bayonne’s first mayoral debate on April 26 led the other two candidates in the race, City Council Speaker Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski and doctor and lawyer Mitchell Brown, to drop out of the second. debate just a few weeks before May. 10 municipal elections.

First debate organized at the Oresko school

The first debate was moderated by View of Hudson County and moderated by HCVby John Heinis at Nicholas Oresko Community School on April 26. Residents attended in person and watched a live broadcast on social media as well as on television on BEN-TV.

A second debate has been set for April 28, hosted by Hudson Media Group and moderated by TA Pinto BayonneIt’s Al Sullivan. The event would be televised and streamed live online, but would have no live audience.

Before the end of the first debate, members of the public were able to ask a few questions. Resident Pat Desmond questioned why the other debate was being held in a studio in North Bergen and not in front of an audience.

Desmond said the debate should take place in Bayonne, and with the ability for locals to come in person and ask questions. Brown said the second debate was going to be held in North Bergen because that’s where the host’s studio was, but he falsely claimed it was hosted by Newspaper Media Group, the owner of the News from the Community of Bayonne and the Hudson Reporteras opposed to actual host Hudson Media Group.

Brown noted that he was prepared to leave the second debate in a closed studio if Ashe-Nadrowski was not interested in going, since Davis chose not to attend this debate with a live audience: “We can let Jimmy Davis sit alone.”

Ashe-Nadrowski said she was “not opposed to taking questions anywhere” but did not understand Davis’ choice not to attend this debate in Bayonne, wondering if he felt that the people there “were not worthy of his time”. Both had criticized Davis for his absence throughout the debate and continued to do so until the end.

Davis only attends the second debate

Hours before the first debate, the Davis campaign released a statement that Davis would not be in attendance. The same statement was read aloud before the start of the first debate.

“Mayor Davis looks forward to participating in Thursday night’s debate, which begins at 6 p.m. and will be hosted by Hudson Media Group and moderated by veteran political journalist Al Sullivan,” spokesman Phil Swibinski said. “This debate will be televised in addition to being available online, and thus gives all the inhabitants of Bayonne the best opportunity to hear the candidates directly.”

While the Davis campaign characterized the upcoming debate as the only one to be both televised and streamed online, the first debate in View of Hudson County was broadcast not only on social media, but also on television via BEN-TV in addition to live audiences.

“Our understanding from the debate hosts is that all three candidates have confirmed their attendance, and Mayor Davis looks forward to discussing his record and his vision for the future of Bayonne,” Swibinski said. “The Davis campaign never accepted any other proposed debates.”

The Davis campaign said it did not agree to attend this debate, which Heinis confirmed. However, he noted that there have been efforts to seek commitment to the event by the Davis campaign since at least March 3, with the last communication being just before Easter. HCV has typically hosted mayoral debates in the past, including one in 2018 at Nicholas Oresko Community School that Davis previously attended and held in the same format as this one.

Instead of the first debate, Davis posted on social media that he was meeting with political and religious leaders at the Al Hoda Islamic Center in Jersey City during the annual Community Leaders Iftar. Ashe-Nadrowski and Brown criticized Davis for choosing to attend this event instead of the only debate open to members of the public in person.

Ashe-Nadrowski claims victory

After the debate, the Ashe-Nadrowski campaign declared victory “by a landslide,” to on key issues for the people of Bayonne such as quality of life, responsible development, its plan for transparent government, public safety and quality education.

“I’m here today and I showed up tonight because Mayor Davis has stopped doing his job,” Ashe-Nadrowski said during the debate. “Again, the mayor has decided not to run for the people of Bayonne. I’m here because I’m not afraid to look the inhabitants in the face and answer their questions or share my vision of Bayonne.

Ashe-Nadrowski criticized Davis for leaving a room full of Bayonnais and about 1,000 first online viewers “without any response on his record or his project for Bayonne”.

“Mayor Davis thinks the best place to have a debate is in North Bergen instead of here in Bayonne in front of the locals,” Brown added.

“If Mayor Davis isn’t here to answer important questions from Bayonne residents and talk about important issues, the choice is clear,” Ashe-Nadrowski said. “Bayonne deserves a leader who will show up for the people and answer the tough questions.”

According to Ashe-Nadrowski, this is another example of how Davis “continues to fail the people of Bayonne and fails to answer the tough questions. The people of Bayonne need a representative who will show up for his inhabitants, not one who continues to hide.”

Brown and Ashe-Nadrowski quit second debate

Following this press release, Brown and Ashe-Nadrowski decided not to attend the second debate in a joint statement.

“We are fighting for the town hall of Bayonne,” they said. “We disagree on many points. But what we can agree on is that Bayonne deserves an open, transparent, and direct conversation about the issues that matter to Bayonne residents and taxpayers. No doubt, Bayonne deserves a beating. Tuesday evening, we participated in a live television debate here in Bayonne, at the Nicholas Oresko school, in front of a live Bayonne audience. While all three mayoral candidates were invited to participate in this debate, Mayor Davis decided not to show up. By dodging this debate, Mayor Davis dismissed the serious concerns of Bayonne voters and disrespected all residents and taxpayers of the city. Instead of debating live and in person in Bayonne, Mayor Davis is only willing to show up for a debate miles from Bayonne in a closed studio in North Hudson, without an audience and under questionable pretenses. Bayonne deserves better. Bayonne deserves a mayor who isn’t afraid to look them in the eye.

Ashe-Nadrowski and Brown berated Davis for not attending the first debate with an audience and only committing to one at an out-of-town studio.

“Again, although we disagree on many things, we agree that it is better to spend our time speaking directly with members of our community where they live – right here in Bayonne,” they said. they wrote on April 27. “That is why today we are announcing that we will not be attending this closed-door debate behind the scenes outside of Bayonne. If Mayor Davis chooses to sit alone and speak on a screen, and even to not to do so in the city he serves, he confirms what we all already know: how disconnected he is from the people of Bayonne. Whatever your choice for the position of mayor, we encourage you to come and vote for the May 10. As a reminder, early voting begins on May 6 and will continue on May 7 and 8 at the town hall of Bayonne.

The Davis campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Anyway, it seems that another debate can only take place if it takes place in Bayonne, in front of a live audience, and of course, all the candidates agree to attend.

For updates on this story and others, visit www.hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Daniel Israel can be reached at [email protected]