Doyle

PAWTUCKET –– After saying he wouldn’t, Mayor James E. Doyle has agreed to appear on the Glen Medeiros Show, on public-access TV’s Channel 18, to debate Donald R. Grebien, his opponent in the November election.

The decision, which Doyle confirmed yesterday, came several weeks after Doyle and his campaign staff omitted the Medeiros show from the list of places where Doyle would agree to debate Grebien, the City Council member running against him for mayor.

At the time, Doyle explained the omission by saying he wasn’t sure Medeiros could be objective.

Among other things, the mayor said, Medeiros used Grebien as a reference when he applied for a city job.

So what made the mayor change his mind and decide to go on the Glen Medeiros Show?

In an interview yesterday, Doyle said his fear of possible bias was overshadowed by the “public’s right to know.”

Doyle acknowledged, however, there was another reason, one that was less idealistic.

By getting the objectivity issue out in the open before he appeared on the show, Doyle said he believes he has immunized himself against the charge of acting like a “crybaby” if Medeiros treats him unfairly and he alleges bias.

Medeiros’s City Hall job hunt included a request to be considered for a position as a paralegal in the law department and a meeting with Doyle and Grebien six months ago to discuss his job prospects.

“That had to be out front,” the mayor said, before he felt comfortable about appearing on the Glen Medeiros Show with Grebien and taking part in a debate.

The debate will air on Cox Cable at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16.

Medeiros said he was surprised and pleased when the mayor called him last week and agreed to appear.

“I reassured him that he would walk out of there being treated very fairly and equally and everybody would be happy,” Medeiros said.

Because of ill health, Medeiros said, he is no longer seeking a city job. He expressed doubt that his job request had anything to do with Doyle’s reluctance to appear on the public-access TV program.

“I think that was a total pretext,” Medeiros said.

What probably happened, Medeiros said, was that Doyle’s advisers told the mayor not to give Grebien exposure by agreeing to appear with him on TV.

“I think he had some overzealous campaign workers telling him not to debate.”

Doyle’s campaign consultant, Joseph T. Fleming, denied that.

“We’re the ones that issued the challenge for the debate, so that’s absolutely false,” Fleming said, citing the Aug. 11 news release that omitted the Medeiros show from the list of possible debate venues.

“We want to debate Grebien at every opportunity,” Fleming said. “The mayor’s running a very aggressive campaign.”

The Doyle campaign originally sought to debate Grebien at forums organized by The Pawtucket Foundation, the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and The Pawtucket Times.

Conspicuous by its absence was the Medeiros show, which has been on the air 26 years.

Medeiros said that, in addition to the Sept. 16 debate, he hopes to air four programs –– two featuring Doyle and two featuring Grebien –– at which the candidates would appear individually and answer questions put to them by Medeiros and his co-host, former Central Falls Mayor Thomas A. Lazieh.

Other organizations are offering the candidates the opportunity to discuss the issues.

PADS, the Pawtucket Alliance for Downtown Success, is planning to host a candidates’ forum on Oct. 7. Linda T. Dewing, a member of the organization’s steering committee, said the forum was originally going to be held in the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre, but PADS is looking into the possibility of a bigger venue.

Paul Ouellette, The Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of community development and workforce training, said the Chamber and the Pawtucket Rotary Club are planning to jointly sponsor a candidates’ forum for Doyle and Grebien late in October.

“We may do it in the Cox studio without an audience or in a public format and have someone videotape it to air on Cox,” Ouellette said yesterday. The exact time and place haven’t been set.

jcastell@projo.com