Don’t call it a debate in New Albany mayor’s race

By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL
Eric.Campbell@newsandtribune.com

Mayoral candidates Randy Hubbard and Doug England have not appeared on the same stage yet in this campaign, a distinction that will continue even after a forum featuring both of them next week. The nonprofit Develop New Albany has organized an event for 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 24 in the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library’s auditorium.

The format calls for Hubbard to answer questions about downtown development and neighborhood revitalization for 45 minutes, followed 15 minutes later by England answering the same questions, said Greg Sekula, vice president of Develop New Albany. That group’s board of directors will compile the list of questions. Neither candidate is expected to be present for the other’s discussion, Sekula said. Develop New Albany had wanted “for quite some time” to host a downtown-specific mayoral forum, finally getting both candidates to agree to a date last week, Sekula said.

Neither candidate pushed for changes to the format, he added.“We just wanted to give people another opportunity to hear issues,” Sekula said. In August, IU Southeast invited England and Hubbard to participate in a debate, scheduled for Wednesday. England agreed, but Hubbard declined, citing a prior commitment.The event is set to continue as a question-and-answer session with England alone. Republican Party chairman David Matthews said Monday that Hubbard is among party leaders who are convening Wednesday night.