Senator Ball Cancels on Kendal Debate

Ten minutes before the senatorial candidates debate was set to begin Monday night at Kendal on Hudson, residents were disappointed to hear that incumbent State Senator Greg Ball (R) would not be coming.

Ball’s Chief of Staff, Jim Coleman, gave a prepared statement on Ball's absence, telling the crowd of about 150 notoriously politically-savvy seniors that Ball had a scheduling conflict and could not make it. Coleman then left.

This left challenger Justin Wagner (D) alone to field the dozen or so questions from the audience.

"We planned a debate for two candidates, but only ended up with one candidate,” said John Blake, a registered Republican living at Kendal. “We were looking to both be educated by the candidates and educate the candidates with issues facing seniors. Unfortunately, we were able to do only half of that. " 

Ball, who has made many stops in the town of Mt. Pleasant—newly shifted to district 40—has not campaigned in its village of Sleepy Hollow. Wagner on the other hand, has become something of a regular: hanging out with Mayor Ken Wray at the recent Oktoberfest in Kingsland Point Park, knocking on doors, and talking to customers at Arthur Avenue Bread. Last week in front of Village Hall he received the endorsement of Village democrats on behalf of Deputy Mayor Karin Wompa.

Joe Bachmeier, spokesperson for the Ball campaign, issued this statement:

Senator Ball has made dozens of trips to the Town of Mount Pleasant which encompasses the village of Sleepy Hollow. In fact, the Senator is making a stop to the Mount Pleasant Town Hall [Wednesday]. The Senator's schedule is extremely busy, in this month alone, the Senator has over 300 scheduled and official events. Greg has already attended and has committed to numerous debates and will be in attendance at at least 6 in the next few weeks. [Monday] night Senator Ball had important pre scheduled and official events that kept him from attending. Senator Ball was duly represented by his Chief of Staff at the Kendal event, as Greg was accepting a Vietnam Veteran into the Veterans Hall of Fame and could not attend the debate. The duties of public office come before politics.

Public office appointments or not, Kendal resident Annette Leyden still took the absence as a snub. “I am very upset that Ball did not come," she said. "It was extremely rude. If he wasn't going to come, he should have said so ahead of time. Everyone was very upset that Jim Coleman came, made a statement, and then left."

Wagner's campaign spokesperson Linna Loangkote added on Wednesday that Ball's tally is now three cancellations in a row. Wagner's camp is calling Ball a "debate-dodger."

"Justin was at the Concerned Residents of Southeast Forum last night in Brewster and Greg also did not show," Loangkote said. "Last night was the third debate in a row of three days that Greg has confirmed an appearance and failed to show at the last minute due to a prescheduled conflict."

You can watch YouTube footage (posted by Wagner’s campaign) of moderator announcing Ball’s cancellation at Kendal here.

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