Shoemaker Says He Never Agreed To Debate
March 15, 2019 at 10:30 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The Republican challenger to incumbent and Republican Mayor Joe Thallemer returned a phone call to the Times-Union Friday afternoon and said, “I never agreed to do this thing. I explained it to them it’s not a partisan event. This is a Republican Party primary. The party needs to be in control of this.”
Shoemaker had not returned a phone call to the newspaper by the deadline for a story Friday about his absence from the debate.
The debate was organized by News Now Warsaw and its news and content director, Carli Luca. Questions from the community will be asked by panelists representing four local news agencies and the Warsaw Community High School Student Council.
Incumbent Mayor Joe Thallemer said Friday morning he agreed to the debate when the idea was first presented to him. Luca asked Shoemaker to be a part of the debate when he filed Jan. 18, but never confirmed he would be a part of it.
The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 11 at Lakeview Middle School, regardless of whether Shoemaker is there. He has scheduled his own mayor listening event from 6 to 8 p.m. April 11 at the Shrine Building at the fairgrounds.
In prior political debates in the county, there’s never been a political party in charge of the debates, at least for a number of years. A mayor debate in March 2011 was hosted by Kosciusko Silent No More, followed by one in April 2011 hosted by the Times-Union. Other debates have been hosted by the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Women’s club, but none by a political party.
Shoemaker also said the city council at-large candidates needed to be part of the debate, but the radio station balked at that request. Luca indicated she wanted to meet with Shoemaker in person about it but he never got back to her.
Shoemaker said he has emails with Luca that go back a month. He said she’s never gotten back to the Republican Party about having a symposium with the candidates. “They’ve never discussed it,” he said.
He contended there’s been media bias in the past, but other than it wasn’t the Times-Union, he wouldn’t say which news organization was biased.
Shoemaker also said he knew of an effort by the Republican Women’s Club to be involved in the debate.
The Republican challenger to incumbent and Republican Mayor Joe Thallemer returned a phone call to the Times-Union Friday afternoon and said, “I never agreed to do this thing. I explained it to them it’s not a partisan event. This is a Republican Party primary. The party needs to be in control of this.”
Shoemaker had not returned a phone call to the newspaper by the deadline for a story Friday about his absence from the debate.
The debate was organized by News Now Warsaw and its news and content director, Carli Luca. Questions from the community will be asked by panelists representing four local news agencies and the Warsaw Community High School Student Council.
Incumbent Mayor Joe Thallemer said Friday morning he agreed to the debate when the idea was first presented to him. Luca asked Shoemaker to be a part of the debate when he filed Jan. 18, but never confirmed he would be a part of it.
The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 11 at Lakeview Middle School, regardless of whether Shoemaker is there. He has scheduled his own mayor listening event from 6 to 8 p.m. April 11 at the Shrine Building at the fairgrounds.
In prior political debates in the county, there’s never been a political party in charge of the debates, at least for a number of years. A mayor debate in March 2011 was hosted by Kosciusko Silent No More, followed by one in April 2011 hosted by the Times-Union. Other debates have been hosted by the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Women’s club, but none by a political party.
Shoemaker also said the city council at-large candidates needed to be part of the debate, but the radio station balked at that request. Luca indicated she wanted to meet with Shoemaker in person about it but he never got back to her.
Shoemaker said he has emails with Luca that go back a month. He said she’s never gotten back to the Republican Party about having a symposium with the candidates. “They’ve never discussed it,” he said.
He contended there’s been media bias in the past, but other than it wasn’t the Times-Union, he wouldn’t say which news organization was biased.
Shoemaker also said he knew of an effort by the Republican Women’s Club to be involved in the debate.
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