Palm Bay City Council candidate White backs out of debate with Johnson at last minute
Just before an online debate scheduled with incumbent Palm Bay City Council candidate Kenny Johnson Wednesday night, challenger Nathan White backed out, citing concerns the debate was being run unfairly, the host said.
The debate was broadcast through Palm Bay Live's social media platforms at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Kevin Vaccianna of Palm Bay Live Incorporated, a nonprofit media outlet focused on the Palm Bay community, said White withdrew just before the debate was set to begin.
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In an email to FLORIDA TODAY Wednesday night, White confirmed he did not feel the debate would be fair.
"The purpose of a debate is to provide voters with unbiased, accurate information about both candidates, and allow them to come to their own conclusions," White said. "I no longer had the faith that this debate would provide that. I believe anyone who watched could see I made the correct choice to not participate."
White did not elaborate on what he thought would be unfair.
The debate host Vaccianna previously interviewed White Monday night and Johnson Tuesday night in preparation for the debate, with both interviews broadcast on social media and each one lasting a little over an hour. On Wednesday, the two candidates for council seat 4 were set to come together for the live virtual debate.
Vaccianna expressed frustration at White's withdrawal.
"To produce these shows is not a simple feat," Vaccianna said. "It's a lot of work that I go through .... For this to happen tonight, after weeks of planning, is very disappointing, and it sets me back as a person. It sets me back as a person because it makes me think, 'Hmm, am I doing the right thing?'"
Despite White's absence, Vaccianna and David Jones, founder of the Palm Bay-based company Diversity of Thought, Inc., which coaches organizations in diversity and other subjects, held the debate as scheduled, asking Johnson the questions they had planned ahead of time as well as taking questions from the audience. They also read the questions they were planning to ask White had he been present.
"Our job is to hopefully create an environment where people can be fully aware of the options," Jones said.
Johnson described himself as a someone who works to problem solve on important issues. "You want someone who's going to find solutions, and not just problems," he said.
Johnson also discussed topics such as infrastructure, environmental concerns, homelessness and budgeting in Palm Bay. He said his main focus for the next four years would be on helping the Palm Bay Police Department cut down on their response times to 911 calls.
"The main thing is response times for our police and fire, making sure we're getting enough men and women on the road to betters serve and protect our community," he said. "The city's going to grow regardless ... we're seeing people come here because Florida's the hot spot to go to."
Jones, who questioned Johnson from a list provided by Vaccianna earlier in the day, brought up Johnson's sour relationship with State Rep. Randy Fine.
Fine, who endorsed White, has repeatedly blasted Johnson for a 2015 arrest where Johnson allegedly texted lewd photos of himself to a 17-year-old girl. The charges against Johnson were dropped following an investigation, and his record was expunged, though the incident has been the subject of attack mailers and robotexts sent to Palm Bay residents.
Johnson told FLORIDA TODAY in July he believed Fine was behind these ads. Fine has denied this.
On June 4, Fine filed a police report after an encounter at the Dancing with the Space Coast charity event. In the police report, Fine said Johnson made "vague threats" toward him.
Melbourne Police Department conducted an assault investigation, which the state attorney's office later reviewed. They found Johnson had committed "no prosecutable crimes," according to Todd Brown, a spokesperson for the state attorney.
"I'm going to clear up Fine and set the record straight. There was no threatening," Johnson said during the debate. "I was brought up, if you have an issue with someone, you talk to them."
He said he has tried unsuccessfully multiple times to "extend an olive branch" to Fine to work together to improve Palm Bay.
"Clearly, that's not on his agenda, but it's still on mine, and I'm still willing to work, but I'm not going to focus on him when I need to focus on Palm Bay," he said.
A handful of commenters questioned White's motives for backing out of the debate, raising concerns that some might think the debate was biased toward Johnson as Vaccianna, Jones and Johnson are Black. Another person brought up claims that Johnson had collaborated on the questions prior to the debate, but Vaccianna and Jones denied that.
"Be known, my moderators do not get the questions until the day of to avoid things like this, because it takes me a lot of hours to sit and write these questions," Vaccianna said. "(If) things like this go on behind the scene, I'll be the first one to be throwing a fit."
Jones confirmed he had not received the questions until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. He added "for full transparency" that he saw Johnson earlier during the day at the Palm Bay Job Fair hosted at the Palm Bay Council Chambers, saying he was there with the Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce and did not remember speaking to Johnson alone.
Finch Walker is a breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Nathan White backs out of Palm Bay council debate with Kenny Johnson
