Mayoral candidates Kirk Caldwell and Ben Cayetano will meet in a live, televised setting on two consecutive nights next week, the only chances the public will have to see the two candidates face off against each other on television before the Nov. 6 general election.
They will appear in a live debate on KITV from 8 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and then on the more relaxed, forum-style "Insights on PBS Hawaii" program from 8 to 9 p.m. the following night.
The finalizing of the two forums came this week after several weeks of negotiations between the candidates and four TV stations.
Caldwell agreed to all four forums while Cayetano declined invitations from Hawaii News Now and KHON.
Both candidates and Mayor Peter Carlisle, who was eliminated from contention after finishing third in the Aug. 11 primary election, appeared beforehand at debates or forums once on each of the four outlets.
Mark Platte, Hawaii News Now news director, said Tuesday that Cayetano’s staff told him that he would participate in a Hawaii News Now forum only if both candidates were sitting, the forum had no live audience, and no questions would be accepted via social media.
Platte said the campaign formally declined Hawaii News Now’s invitation on Wednesday.
Cayetano told the Star-Advertiser that he wanted a less formal atmosphere and longer time for rebuttal. "Thirty seconds or 45 seconds is not enough to explain or rebut statements that have been made," he said.
He pointed to the Kokua Council forum the two candidates took part in Monday that gave each man 15 minutes to speak freely before answering written questions from the audience. Cayetano said he also felt a large audience would be distracting.
"The television stations, their formats are more to make it interesting … to attract viewers, but none of those things have anything to do with giving people the best opportunity to explain things and understand things," he said.
Hawaii News Now broke an unwritten rule by doing a story on the negotiations, Cayetano said.
"Negotiations on formats are part and parcel of debates. In this particular case, Hawaii News Now broke the rule, they made it public, the negotiations, and usually they don’t do that."
He added: "For sure I won’t be debating on that station."
Hawaii News Now reporter Rick Daysog detailed the negotiations in a story on Sept. 14.
Platte said no one from the Cayetano staff expressed unhappiness with Daysog’s story.
KHON producer Jennifer Brink said that after two weeks of negotiations, the station was canceling its planned Oct. 11 debate after she was told Tuesday afternoon that Cayetano would not be participating. She would not discuss specifics.
Campaign aide Sam Callejo told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that Cayetano declined the KHON and Hawaii News Now debates because "the gov is just really busy right now."
The campaign is focused on holding community forums and fundraising and "at this time, he doesn’t feel debates are the best use of his time."
Callejo said Cayetano declined the Hawaii News Now and KHON invitations also because "there were some conditions that were not acceptable."
KITV News Director Chuck Parker said the two men will face a panel of reporters who will ask questions. A number of questions sent by viewers via the Internet will also be asked by moderator and KITV co-anchorwoman Yunji de Nies, and the candidates will have time for closing statements, Parker said.
Both candidates will be standing behind lecterns, he said.
Robert Pennybacker, executive producer of "Insights on PBS Hawaii," said the Oct. 4 show will be similar to other forums hosted by veteran local political commentator Dan Boylan. The program will be live and unscripted, with both men sitting around a table with Boylan. The format will include questions fielded by telephone, email and Twitter, Pennybacker said.
Caldwell said he’s baffled why Cayetano would turn down any chance to debate.
"The people of the city and county of Honolulu deserve to see the candidates side-by-side fielding questions from the public so they can see how they answer questions, and who is best suited to deal with the day-to-day issues that a mayor needs to address," he said.
