On Saturday, Gossips reported that Joe Ferris, candidate for mayor, has challenged the incumbent Kamal Johnson to five debates--one in each ward--to take place before June 14, when early voting begins for the Democratic primary: "Will He or Won't He?"
Today, Johnson responded on Instagram, agreeing to only one debate and suggesting the other two candidates for mayor--Peter Spear and Lloyd Koedding, neither of whom will actually be on the ballot until November--be included in the debate.
Step in the right direction Kamal... as a public servant, rising to the occasion, even if still announced on FB/IG.
ReplyDelete🤔 But why 1 debate, and why mix the Democratic Primary with NOP and GOP candidates?
This reminds of candidate Kamala** last year when she tried to avoid debates, and packed TV interviews with family members instead of 1 on 1s to minimize gaffe time.
🧮 5 (ward) debates X 1 hour per date = 10 hours.
So Joe vs. Kamal = ~5 hours of Q&A and candidate statements per person.
But a single 4 way one hour debate = ~15 min per candidate.
🗺️ The idea of one debate per ward is also novel because then the usual loud voices at City Hall meetings, or bussed in special interest supporters from Albany and Poughkeepsie and other towns in the County, are less likely to drown out local resident / tax payer questions.
Kamal, you have been mayor for almost 6 years and before that served on the council for a number of years... the budget has gone up from $15m to almost $20m during your tenure...
Surely Democratic Primary voters should count on more than 15 min of your time in a debate?
This is the first real mayoral election in Hudson in the 2020s, since the pandemic, since Cuomo was Governor... a lot has changed...
** https://www.axios.com/2024/09/19/harris-media-strategy-hide-election?utm_source=chatgpt.com
At least one of the debates has to be between the 2 ballot-seeking Dems who are primarying each other -- the mayor and his challenger and no one else. Any unwillingness on the part of either of those asking for their Party's and its members' support to participate in a real, meaningful one-on-one debate is tantamount to an admission on the balker's part that s/he is unsuited for the primary voters' support. It's really that simple. But Kamal hasn't the chops for that and he knows it. He'll flail and equivocate until it's too late. Watch.
ReplyDeleteJohn - Kamal does care about Hudson... he is just in a very tough spot given his track record. But he cares and will surely not back out of a debate.
ReplyDeleteBut we should all hope he debates Joe in the primary, and then if he proceeds, all the other candidates in the general.
📺 Interesting re-watch from 2019 election for new and old residents;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxe0-jkwKG0&t=4967s
1️⃣ - Kamal certainly did not hold punches... and accused his then political opponent of "magic wand" thinking...
2️⃣ - The then mayor Rick Rector touches on the "political football", the Tax Reassessment that had just been completed... and that lead to an outcry. And it seems that lead to the anti Airbnb ordinance?
3️⃣ - Kamal accused Rector of a lack of transparency (seemingly without evidence? but Kamal please chime in if there was a specific reason for that accusation).
So Kamal... it has been more than 4 years (8?) since the last tax-reassessment , why have you not conducted a city-wide tax assessment like your predecessor did?
And would you say you are more or less transparent and forthcoming than the former mayor?
He’ll hem and haw until it’s so late in the game that nothing happens before the primary. I’m willing to bet on this, FNI, if you are.
DeleteThe ancillary shame here — and its shame, for sure — belongs to the City Dems who should require a series of bilateral debates prior to the primary but, being a spineless collection of sycophants kowtowing to wokeism, have and will continue to do sweet fuck all when it comes to increasing transparency for the actual Democrats who are registered in the city.
Agreed John. There are two candidates for Mayor on the primary ballot. Ferris and Johnson. Another debate prior to the November election should include the three vying for office at that time. Four on the stage for the primary will not permit a thoughtful examination of Mayor Johnson's performance... whatever that may be.
DeleteThe thing is that the primaries have been rendered nearly useless since having.a Working Families Party endorsement gets you a free ticket to the November ballot without having to worry about signatures or primaries. So Tom, Kamal, and Claire will still be in the running, even if Democrats tell them to take a hike in June. So yes, shame to the City Dems for allowing DSA plants to circumvent their own party’s primaries. So we have a very likely scenario of a 4-way race in November and very unpredictable vote split. Kamal’s right, it will be a “party.” But my fear is it will be the kind of party that only has stale beer and runs out of food early.
DeleteFor those who argue that commentary here is too critical in general, or too critical of Kamal in particular, just watch this video of Kamal on a Bard Channel, titled
ReplyDelete"Courage to Be: Mayor Kamal Johnson"
📺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmrown7UwMM&t=924s
Kamal boasts about "harassing" the previous mayor... following him around IRL in Staples... presumably after work hours... where he allegedly used a loud speaker to "call out" Mayor Rick.
Can anyone imagine Joe or Peter doing that to Kamal in public today?
Kamal, courage today would be to debate Joe in each ward over the next few weeks. Joe is so above board... so professional, just geek out as two political science boffins on policy and address core issues in every ward.
When Democrats skip primaries voters suffer... #2024
👀 Sharp-eyed viewers caught something telling in the video.
Delete🎤 Kamal says, “I’m still quite childish,” then a minute later complains, “people use age against me.”
That contradiction cuts to the heart of the problem with candidate Kamal.
Kamal brings up age when it helps him.
He calls himself the “youngest” mayor and the “first African American” to hold the office, straight from his own bio.
But when anyone else mentions age, he cries ageism. Same with race... he leads with it, openly calls for race based allocation of tax dollars, but then calls any legitimate pushback on his actions and words, or accountability "racism".
The issue isn’t identity. It’s that his record doesn’t show results.
He hasn’t:
- Created X affordable housing units
- Passed Y transparency reforms
- Raised measurable resident satisfaction to make Hudson a top-ranked city
- Lowered the average tax burden by any clear percentage.
📈 But he did raise his own salary.
Also worth noting: Kamal is now in his 40s. The median age in Hudson is 41, just slightly younger than nearby towns.
🤔 Does that make Joe Ferris now the youngest mayoral candidate?
https://datausa.io/profile/geo/hudson-ny