Lundeen Seeks Media-Moderated Debate; Stevenson Weighing Offer

Democratic first selectman candidate John Lundeen is seeking to hold a media-moderated debate with Republican opponent and current selectman Jayme Stevenson ahead of next month's election.

Lundeen campaign manager Randall Klein issued the invitation Thursday during the Darien Times' weekly coffee at the Sugar Bowl, where Stevenson was in attendance.

The Democrat proposed that the debate be moderated by journalists from the Times, the Darien News, The Daily Darien, and Darien Patch.

"The voters of Darien are sorting through issues, and deserve to hear our positions and visions for the future of Darien side by side and in real time," Lundeen said in a written statement. "I’m confident that we can set the ground rules, date, time, and location quickly."

In an interview on Thursday, Stevenson said that the Republican ticket was "considering [the request] in the context of the rest of our campaign schedule."

"I always welcome every opportunity to speak with people about the issues," Stevenson said. "I'm hoping we can work it out."

Stevenson added that her campaign was reaching out to the Darien League of Women Voters to ensure that there was no conflict with the organization's Candidates Night 2011, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 25.

"The last thing we want to do is blindside them," she said.

Klein said in an interview that the proposed debate was intended to supplement rather than replace the LWV event.

"We certainly applaud their efforts and all the hard work they've been doing over the years," he said. 

But, said Klein, "We thought that more was always better, within reason. ... We would be advocating something a little more free-form."

Among the variables: whether the debate would include third-party first selectman candidate Chris Noe. Stevenson said she thought he should be invited, while Klein said the matter was "open for discussion."

Likewise, Klein said it wasn't clear whether the debate would be a head-to-head between the first selectman candidates alone, a matchup of the full Board of Selectmen slates, or perhaps two separate sessions.

Klein said he had researched several possible venues for a debate, including the Darien Library.