Chittenango High School was the scene of the debate last Tuesday night between Republican John Salka and Democrat Bill Magee, two men battling for election to the 121st Assembly District in New York.
The debate was put together as a project by a group of seniors in the AP Participation in Government class at Chittenango High School. Chittenango Mayor Michael Keville, who is also instructor of the course, got the ball rolling by peaking the interest of the candidates, and then handed over the reins to his students in the creation of the debate. The environment was festive, and moderators Phil Abell and Dakota Prado kept the debate fluent and professional.
The opening round of questions for the candidates consisted of personal, general questions. One of the hot topics of the night was the length of time Magee, the incumbent of 26 years, had already served in the position. When asked about his opinion on his incumbency, he said, “what happened to the idea of seniority?” and stated that he’d “like to continue to be able to handle the issues that come forth.” Salka, currently the supervisor of the town of Brookfield, was asked how he felt he could bring new energy to Albany, to which he replied that he has “an energy level motivated by what I can do for the people of my district.”
As the debate transitioned into questions for both candidates, the tone of the debate transitioned as well. Salka, whose excitement and intensity throughout the debate was clearly evident, began to highlight some of the issues he had with Magee’s effectiveness in Albany. Salka honed in on Magee’s elongated tenure already served as assemblyman, his age, many of the “corrupt” politicians in Albany to whom Magee has ties and some of the policies Salka deemed unfit to benefit Upstate New York.
Aside from that, both men tackled difficult questions regarding various subjects such as agriculture, the governor’s intended raise of the minimum wage, the vetoing of the bill that would yield Madison County 25 percent of all Yellow Brick Road Casinos profits and opioid and heroin use in New York.
Finally, following a brief intermission, the men received questions from the audience spanning topics such as plans for educational spending, their views on term limits and even the two candidates’ outlook on the upcoming presidential election.
After the conclusion of the debate, both men were asked about what they thought of their chances in the upcoming election.
Salka, confident throughout the entirety of the evening, said, “I think my chances are great, I think people are starting to recognize that they need change in Albany.”
Magee, cool and collected during the event, said, “I don’t know; after that many years you wonder sometimes, hopefully I’ll be ok.”
Tommy Valentine is a student at Chittenango High School
