First Selectman Candidates Still Split on Debate Details [POLL]

The wrangling over a possible third debate between Darien's first selectman candidates continued over the weekend, as Republican Jayme Stevenson and Democrat John Lundeen failed to reach a consensus on timing and location.

at the Darien Times' Oct. 6 coffee by Democratic campaign manager Randall Klein, the debate was conceived of as a media-moderated event led by journalists based in town. It would be the third scheduled debate of the season, in addition to a Channel 12 debate and the ' Candidates' Night on Oct. 25.

On Thursday, Stevenson, Klein, and Republican campaign manager Susan Marks met with editors from the Times, The Daily Darien, and Darien Patch to discuss logistics. Both campaigns voiced support for a roundtable format but quarreled over the location, date, and time of day.

Stevenson and Marks , arguing that it should be held at the , preferably during the day. Klein countered that those conditions would prevent from covering the event live and enable the Republican ticket to attract a more favorable audience. He argued in favor of as the venue but proposed several alternatives.

After the campaigns agreed to work toward a consensus over the weekend, Klein sent an email to Stevenson and Marks on Thursday stating that the Democratic ticket would agree to senior center "for an evening or weekend debate."

On Friday, Stevenson responded that her campaign would agree "to a third First Selectman Candidates’ debate during the day on Friday, Oct. 28 at the Darien Senior Center, a date which allows all four primary media outlets to cover the event."

But that proposal met with resistance from Lundeen, who said in a statement Sunday that he believed "such a location and timing to be inappropriate." He added that the campaign "would happily place the resolution of these final issues in the hands of our media moderators."

Also unresolved is the possible inclusion of Chris Noe, who is running first selectman under the banner of the Ultra-Conservative Party. Noe was not mentioned in the initial debate proposal, but Stevenson has said she believes he should be allowed to participate. Klein has expressed openness to the idea.