The lone write-in candidate running for Town Council, Gregory Harris, will not be participating in the October 24 debate with the six official candidates. The reason: Another repercussion of the insufficient number of petitions that were submitted to the Town Clerk’s office, which left him off the ballot as an independent in the November 8 election.
Candidates for town council have confirmed their participation in the debate hosted by the West Windsor Retirees’ Group, headed by Ron Slinn, and the Village Grande Civic Association, headed by Ed O’Mara.
Slinn said the debate is only for those officially on the ballot.
Harris, however, feels slighted. He was included in Slinn’s blanket invitation to all individuals who, prior to the September 6 deadline for formal petitions, had publicly indicated that they intended to run for the West Windsor Council.
Slinn explained the basis of the decision: “Mr. Harris’ petitions did not qualify him to appear on the official election ballot. I therefore let him know that our criteria for participation in the debates we were planning did not allow for him to be included. The criteria for participation has consistently been that the names of qualified candidates who will appear on the relevant ballot,” he said.
Slinn E-mailed Harris last week “as a courtesy,” he said, to let him know that he would not be able to join the debate. Harris reacted by sending E-mails to each of the six candidates, asking them all to appeal for his participation. He then reached out to the media to allege that Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh was involved in his exclusion from the debate.
Harris also challenged their filings for candidacy, saying that in review of all the petitions submitted he found many discrepancies but he holds the town clerk’s office responsible. Nevertheless he made sure the other candidates took notice.
“I am bound by the same election reporting requirements and media blackout rules as the rest of you, and I made it quite publicly known that I am running. Discriminating against me is certainly not in the best interest of the community or the rest of us involved. And I will not allow it.
“I backed off of my challenge to your petitions in spite of supporting evidence of mishandling and violations of the statutes, yet I receive nothing in return. I didn’t feel that you, the candidates as a group, should have had to deal with the repercussions of the mishandling of your petitions. I also backed off on the individual challenges for the sake of getting on with the election peacefully and not bringing this town into more endless litigation. I invited you all to meet with me and residents one on one and I have been completely ignored. If I allow myself to be ignored, then what kind of council member will I make?” Harris said in his E-mail to the candidates.
In E-mails sent to the press Harris said “I was just told that the Mayor ‘ruled’ that I could not be included. This is an election, not town business. What does this have to do with the Mayor?”
Mayor Hsueh had heard Harris’s claim that he was left off the debate due to the mayor’s discretion.
Hsueh said it was important “to downplay this kind of nonsense” and added that the use of township facilities and the prospect of having video and media coverage of the October debates is the only way he was involved. “I had no input for the planning of the debate. Basically they (Slinn and O’Mara) made the decision. I don’t know what to say except that there has been erroneous information circulated.
Gene O’Brien, the campaign manager for the team of Zahn, Kohn and Maher, wrote an E-mail to Harris stating that “the October 24 debate and your exclusion by the mayor has been the subject of many, many, E-mail messages.” O’Brien did not return WW-P News’ phone calls seeking clarification during the week.
After looking for answers at town hall and from those who would like a seat on the Council, Harris’s next step is approaching the television channels about a violation of his rights. Harris said he will look into contacting Comcast and Verizon.
“If they broadcast the debate without me they would be in violation of the FCC Communications Act because it’s a public station. I would get an hour and a half time for every hour and a half they are on because there are laws for candidates to get an equal amount of time if they are broadcast,” he said.
