In a scene that could only be described as embarrassing for Cunningham, the mayor was forced today to leave his City Hall office and speak with a constituent in a chicken suit who refused to leave the grounds at city hall until Cunningham agreed to participate in a debate with the other candidates in the race for State Senate in the 31st District.

After repeated attempts to get the chicken to go away, the mayor himself appeared to try and persuade the chicken to leave. After blustering about being the frontrunner and indicating that the voters of the 31st district don’t pay attention to debates, the mayor conceded that he would appear with the other candidates if the event could be planned.

“I’m happy that Mayor Cunningham has finally come around and is willing to let the voters decide who the next state senator should be,” Vincent Militello said. “It’s unfortunate that it took a chicken in front of city hall to get the mayor to change his mind and allow the voters to see us side by side.”

News Channel 12 invited all three candidates in the 31st District State Senate race to debate on its network. Without explanation, Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham and Jersey City Council President Harvey Smith refused to participate. The Militello campaign accepted the invitation without restriction to debate any time. With the recent agreement between the Militello and the Cunningham camps, Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith is now the only holdout.

“I have a feeling that Mr. Smith will come around, and I look forward to a spirited debate,” Militello said. “I’ve tried to make this election about the issues and the people of Jersey City and Bayonne. My opponents have been wasting their time sniping at each other and bringing lawsuits. I’m glad that at least for the last six days of this campaign we can make this race about the issues and not the personal problems between the mayor’s machine and the Smith machine.”

“The race shouldn’t be about personality,” Militello continued. “We should be focusing on taxes, spiraling insurance rates, the economy and the children of Bayonne and Jersey City. It’s time that both the mayor and the council president answer to the people.”

For more information about the Militello for State Senate campaign, contact Mircalla Wozniak or Katie Dowd at (201) 339-8020 or stop by the campaign headquarters at 536 Broadway in Bayonne.