GREAT KILLS — The Democratic contender to fill Michael Grimm's seat in Congress criticized opponent District Attorney Dan Donovan for cutting their first debate short so he could attend a fundraiser Monday night.
The Middle Class Action project held a question-and-answer forum focused on economic issues in Staten Island, the first public event Donovan and Councilman Vincent Gentile attended together since announcing their campaigns to fill the vacant congressional seat representing Staten Island and Brooklyn.
While Gentile said he rescheduled a fundraising event so the two could debate instead of just answering the same questions separately, Donovan had to leave early — immediately after answering his questions.
"I'm disappointed because I came to have a debate," Gentile said. "I changed my fundraising schedule... The fact is Mr. Donovan didn't change his schedule and I came ready to debate."
According to a Facebook event posted by Donovan's campaign, the district attorney had a fundraising cocktail event to attend.
After the event, Gentile's team sent an email saying he won the first debate and again calling out Donovan for leaving early.
"Fun fact: Dan Donovan didn't want tonight's debate to happen and did everything he could to avoid having to take a real stance on key issues," the email read.
"Behind the scenes, Dan pleaded with the organizers to change the format and he dodged question after question with evasive answers."
Donovan's campaign said the hosts told them the format was never for a debate and was always going to be a forum.
"It's unfortunate the Gentile campaign is resorting to blatant lies to get attention," said Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for Donovan.
"It's silly, and we hope it's not indicative of the kind of campaign he wants to run. We look forward to the actual debates already scheduled in Brooklyn and on Staten Island."
While the two did not get to debate, they did get to outline their positions on a number of economic issues for the crowd Monday, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, raising the minimum wage, Hurricane Sandy and the paid sick-leave bill.
Donovan said he was for workers taking time off when they were sick, but the burden shouldn't be on their bosses.
"It's our government telling a store owner, a small business owner, that you have to do something and you do it instead of helping you to do that," Donovan said.
"The burden of what that will cost should not be on the owner, it should be on our government."
For his part, Gentile said he supported the paid sick-leave bill and the way it was passed in the City Council.
"It's frankly a thing that helps people when they need it the most," Gentile said.
Donovan and Gentile are both seeking to fill a seat left vacant in January after Grimm pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
