Alan Kennedy-Shaffer (left) at a Harrisburg Hope forum earlier this year with Geno Veno, the school district’s chief recovery officer.
Note: Just after this was posted, Republican candidate Dan Miller announced that he would take part in tomorrow’s Harrisburg Hope mayoral debate, which now will be moderated by Destini Hodges, vice president of Harrisburg Hope. The event starts at 6 p.m. at HACC’s Cooper Student Center.
Candidate debates are supposed to inform and enlighten voters, not become issues themselves.
Unfortunately, in Harrisburg, the latter has happened repeatedly, as debates in the primary–and now in the general election–have become infused with personal and political drama that threatens to overshadow the substance of the events.
Tomorrow night, Harrisburg Hope holds the first highly anticipated mayoral debate of the general election season, and it now seems that, instead of a spirited exchange of ideas, Democratic candidate Eric Papenfuse may have the room largely to himself, delivering comments unchallenged by others.
According to organizer Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, Republican nominee Dan Miller still has not said if he plans to attend (he also has not officially turned down the invitation, so Kennedy-Shaffer isn’t sure whether or not Miller will be there). Meanwhile, independent Nevin Mindlin said late yesterday that he had changed his mind and would not participate.
In turning down the debate, Mindlin focused on Kennedy-Shaffer’s support of Papenfuse, in addition to the role of the Democratic Party in challenging Mindlin’s nominating petition.
Indeed, Kennedy-Shaffer is a Papenfuse booster, as well as a party activist. But he’s also president of Harrisburg Hope and, in that role, has proven himself to be a highly capable, fair moderator who is sincerely interested in helping to inform the people of Harrisburg on a wide range of public policy issues. Through the years, Harrisburg Hope has capably hosted other candidates’ nights, as well as held forums on subjects as varied as the city’s debt crisis and the legal status of marijuana. In fact, Mindlin and Miller both have participated in past Harrisburg Hope events.
As I’ve written previously, I respect all the mayoral candidates and believe it’s a tragedy that Mindlin was thrown off the ballot after his nominating petition was successfully challenged (his appeal is still pending before the Commonwealth Court). However, without Miller and Mindlin attending, the real losers will be not Kennedy-Shaffer or Harrisburg Hope, but the people of this city.
In a month, residents of Harrisburg will go to the polls to elect a new mayor, and they need as much information as possible to make the best decision. Debates provide the opportunity for voters to hear the candidates speak unscripted, perhaps even field unexpected questions. Otherwise, voters are left with little more than canned campaign rhetoric and toxic direct mail, neither of which is very helpful.
In a representative government, debates are vital tools in helping voters decide who will lead them, who will make public policy, who will better spend their tax dollars and more efficiently provide their services. Debates should be an instrument for the common good, a way for candidates to reach and inform voters. Instead, they’ve become another sign of the city’s division, another casualty of its highly personal politics.
Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.
