In the Arena: Don’t overlook Governor’s Council Race

It isn’t often that the back story behind setting up a debate is more interesting than the debate itself, but that seems to be the case in the largely-forgotten Democratic primary between Mary Hurley and Jeff Morneau for the 8th District Governor’s Council seat being vacated by Mike Albano.

There is no Republican running, so, in this case, the Sept. 8 primary is the general election, and a significant one, though you’d never know it by the amount of coverage it is generating.

This is one of the few elected positions in state government that represents all four western counties, and it is the only check this region has on gubernatorial judicial appointments — arguably the most important enumerated power enjoyed by any chief executive.

Given what’s at stake, it would seem that a series of debates would be in order, but not everyone involved appears to share that view. Clearly, the Morneau campaign wants them and with good reason. Though he has a following in the Hampden County legal community, Morneau is a virtual unknown pretty much everywhere else, something that will only change by availing himself of the type of free media such debates provide.

Hurley is also not a huge name in these parts, but as a former Springfield mayor and a retired district court judge, she has much more name recognition and political experience and connections than her opponent, who is making his first run for political office.

Morneau needs the debates, Hurley not so much, a fact which was not lost on this reporter when Karen Lee from the Morneau campaign rang me up to ask if I’d moderate a debate between the two, which was to have happened this past Tuesday at Greenfield Community College.

My answer to these requests is always the same — heck, yes — because debates are one of the few venues that allow voters to make a truly informed decision. Not only do you get to gauge the candidate’s knowledge of the issues, but it’s also an opportunity to garner some insight into their personalities and potential approach to the office.

In Morneau’s case, I looked forward to hearing more about his desire to see more “activist judges” appointed, a position which will likely thrill progressives and terrify pretty much everyone else.

And as much as I enjoy doing these things, I hate setting them up, a point I thought I had made clear during the conversation. I told Lee that she needed to book the venue and contact GCTV to record it. I also suggested she try and secure a media sponsor such as The Recorder, which handled the Greenfield debates so well this past fall.

Apparently, there was a miscommunication because only GCC got the call to book the venue, with the assumption that the college would handle everything else, which is not really what they do.

That triggered another series of calls, placed by me, which saw The Recorder and GCTV both step up and agree to take part. Unfortunately, I was operating under the assumption that the Hurley campaign was on-board, but it turns out no one ever called to see if that date worked for them, which it turns out it didn’t.

It was at this point that I began to wonder whether the Morneau campaign was playing me a little bit.

I mean, what better way to goad an opponent into a debate than by setting it up without their knowledge, forcing them to either show up or risk having an empty chair on the stage?

Unfortunately for them, I work that way. If both candidates can’t be there, assuming it’s a two-person debate, find another moderator.

The only time I’ve broken that rule was during Scott Cote’s first run for Franklin County Register of Deeds when incumbent Joe Gochinski refused to debate. Even then, there was no empty chair. It was just a one-on-one interview between Cote and me.

I don’t believe there was anything dubious about the Morneau campaign’s actions. I chalk it up to inexperience, although it did try to make some lemonade out of its lemons by issuing a press release calling for Hurley to debate in all four counties, using the abortive July 19 gathering as a hook.

That triggered added confusion leading to more calls, this time from old friend Mary Serreze from Masslive.com who couldn’t seem to get a straight answer from either campaign about whether debates were or were not being scheduled.

Good luck with that one, pal.

Hopefully, there will be an opportunity for Franklin County voters to see these candidates mix it up, and if I’m part of it, fine.

But, much like Melania Trump’s alleged convention speech plagiarism, I’m sick of hearing about it.

However, in the off-chance debates don’t happen and you still want to find out how these guys stand on the issues, I was able to score half-hour interviews with both, which can be accessed via the fcatmedia (Frontier Community Action Television Media) page on YouTube.

I urge you to check them out, because this may very well be the most important race of the year that no one is talking about.

Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.