At Salem Reporter, we consider our Town Halls to be a service to the community. We’ll be hosting one next week, focusing on the reading crisis in local schools. What we won’t be hosting, it appears, is a debate in the mayor’s race. How that came about is a bit puzzling. You may rec all that in the 2024 election, Salem Reporter teamed up with the Salem City Club to conduct the debate between then-Mayor Chris Hoy and then-City Councilor Julie Hoy. The event was free, held at the Elsinore Theatre, and broadcast live. You can see that debate in this Capital Community Media video. It was held just before ballots were mailed to voters. For that event, I sent invitations to both candidates. That time, Julie Hoy responded in less than five minutes: “I would be happy to participate.” Now, with the mayor’s race on the May ballot, we set out to arrange another debate. The logistics of these events require advance planning, from reserving the theater to arranging broadcast coverage.   Such debates are powerful civic events for a community like Salem. These aren’t campaign settings. Debates are structured to pose identical questions to each candidate. Citizens can see in real time how they respond. They can judge who has knowledge of public matters, who can articulate their ideas for change. There is another benefit. They give citizens a chance to learn more about local issues they might not have followed closely. A debate serves as a bit of a civics lesson. Using nearly the identical language from 2024, I invited Mayor Julie Hoy and Vanessa Nordyke, a city councilor challenging her. There was a deadline to respond but we gave the candidates an out: “If you need more time to consult with your team, please let me know as soon as possible.” Hoy didn’t respond. Nordyke did, agreeing to participate. With no word from the mayor, I scrubbed the debate. Reporter Joe Siess then prepared a story about that decision. He sent questions to Hoy, offering her a chance to explain her silence. She responded this time, after deadline. She criticized the 2024 debate. “The moderators did not keep the atmosphere collegial or conducive to a fair exchange of ideas,” she wrote. I was the moderator and had not heard any such concerns at the time. She didn’t say anything during the event, though she had the floor and microphone repeatedly. As we’ve seen in presidential debates, candidates aren’t bashful about complaining in real time if they feel an event is stacked against them. I should add that had she shared her concerns, I would have listened and sought her suggestions on how the 2026 debate might be modified. But this is the part that puzzled me. The mayor wrote to Siess, “I am not refusing to participate.” Instead, she said, “I will not be providing an answer at this time.” She didn’t indicate when she would answer, leaving Salem Reporter with no confirmed participation. The story about the cancellation of the debate prompted some public comment. Several people suggested we go ahead with the event, not letting Hoy decide what the community can and can’t learn about the candidates. Others suggested some variation of a public event. Our team is kicking around possibilities. Here’s where your voice would be helpful. What should we do? This is an important election for Salem, with candidates staking out differing views of the city. So, I ask you. Should we schedule the debate anyhow and involve any candidate who shows up? Should we do a variation of a “Meet the Press” format, holding a live discussion with one willing candidate at a time to address questions from our reporters and readers like you? Do we join our media partners at Capital Community Media to invite each candidate to separate in-depth recorded roundtables with our reporters? Is there another format or forum we should consider? This is your city, your government. Your voice matters greatly to us. Assume you are Salem Reporter’s editor for the day. What course would you set? Drop a comment below or email your ideas to me at [email protected]. I’ll share these thoughts later in the week. The post EDITOR’S NOTE: With our mayor’s debate set aside, what should we do instead? appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less