Councillor at Large George Rotondo has been asking for a public debate with Councillor at Large Dan Rizzo for the past five months. Both men are seeking the mayoralty. Both men are willing and able to debate and they have both told us so.
For the past five months, Rotondo has been pressing Rizzo for a debate. The Rotondo campaign has met with officials of the Rizzo campaign and both sides have discussed the possibility of a debate or a series of debates with numerous e-mails and at least one official meeting.
However, neither Rotondo nor Rizzo have yet to agree on time, place, format, and other such things that go along with a mayoral debate in this city or anywhere else for that matter.
And so, there has not yet been a debate between the two in the strictest sense other than their respective advertisements.
We have long held the belief that debates too early in the election process lessen the value of debates that might be held later on as voters are coming to make their decisions.
Summer debates between the two, we feel, would be largely overlooked.
Rizzo believes this. Rotondo doesn’t.
He is insistent about wanting to debate immediately.
The Revere Journal has told both candidates it is willing to sponsor a debate or a series of debates between the two.
A debate held in late September or early October would certainly prove to aid in defining where each candidate stands and more importantly, would allow Revere voters to take a closer look at both candidates.
We believe a debate or a series of them would be useful. But it is up to Rotondo and Rizzo to hash out the particulars and to agree on them. Without that, there will be no debate.