YOUNGSTOWN 4 of 6 mayoral candidates won't join in split debate

The TV station will hold the debates with or without all the candidates.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Four of the six Youngstown mayoral candidates say the concept of a split debate as proposed by the local ABC television affiliate is unfair and they won't participate.
Republican Robert Korchnak, along with Maggy Lorenzi, Brendan J. Gilmartin and Joe Louis Teague, three independent candidates, said Wednesday they would not attend WYTV's split mayoral debates. Independent Jay Williams is willing to participate.
Democrat Robert F. Hagan couldn't be reached Tuesday or Wednesday to comment on the debates. But Hagan has previously said he would debate only if all six candidates were invited to participate as a group.
David Trabert, WYTV's general manager, said he hopes the candidates change their minds, but the debates will go on even if only one candidate participates.
Results of poll
A WYTV poll conducted Oct. 11 by Survey USA asked 468 Youngstown registered voters by telephone if they were interested in a televised debate between the Republican and Democratic mayoral candidates and the "front-running" independent candidate.
The poll showed that 54 percent were "very" interested in the concept, and 31 percent were "somewhat" interested. The poll's margin of error is 4.6 percent.
The poll also asked participants their opinions -- favorable, not favorable, neutral or don't know -- of each of the six candidates, Trabert said.
Jay Williams, an independent candidate, received a 51 percent favorable rating, showing that he is the front-runner among independent candidates, Trabert said.
Teague's favorable rating was 13 percent, Lorenzi's was 10 percent and Gilmartin's was 7 percent, Trabert said. WYTV will release the entire poll today, he said. With those results, Trabert said, there is no doubt that Williams is the front-runner among independent candidates.
Station's proposal
WYTV wants one debate from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 4 with Lorenzi, Gilmartin and Teague, and another debate from 6 to 7 p.m. Nov. 6 with Korchnak, Williams and Hagan. Hagan's favorable rating was 41 percent and Korchnak's rating was 5 percent, Trabert said.
The TV station is providing air time for the other independent candidates, but the poll clearly shows that people want to see Williams take on Korchnak and Hagan, Trabert said.
"It should be a debate about what people want," he said.
Williams is the only candidate committed to the WYTV event. Williams, who said he was humbled by having the highest favorable rate in the poll, has pushed for a one-on-one debate with Hagan, who refuses to participate in such an event.
Korchnak, Lorenzi, Gilmartin and Teague said splitting the candidates isn't fair and they want the TV station to reconsider its position. The four say the debates organized by the other local TV stations include all six candidates on stage at the same time.
WYTV has no intention of changing its plans, Trabert said.
"They can tell us 24 hours before the debate if they are in," he said. "If we end up with one [candidate], we won't penalize that person. We'll have the panelists ask questions and then take the rest of the time" to discuss issues and voter apathy.
Gilmartin said any opportunity he has to be on television would benefit him, but he'll skip the WYTV event to show solidarity among most of the mayoral candidates.
skolnick@vindy.com