Bing Challenges Boggiano To Debate In Jersey City's Ward C Runoff

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Ward C council candidate Kevin Bing has challenged incumbent councilperson Rich Boggiano to a public debate for the Ward C runoff race.

A series of press-release attacks against Bing's transportation plan by Boggiano led to the debate invitation.

"I invite Rich Boggiano to a public debate to be moderated by John Heinis of the Hudson County View. Voters in Ward C deserve to know where Boggiano and I stand on issues important to them. While my opponent wants to make this election a choice between bikes and parking, my campaign is looking forward to an honest and frank discussion of the wide range of issues at stake in this election like homelessness services, affordable housing, and quality of life issues," said Bing.

In a press release sent by the Boggiano team last week, Boggiano slammed Bing's transportation plan to add more bike lanes to the ward, calling the election a referendum on more bike lanes or more parking spots. Bing responded through statements to the media, calling Boggiano's tactics on singling out parking "Trump-style demagoguery."

On Tuesday, Boggiano's team released another statement, doubling down on their parking stance, calling Bing's plan a 'war on cars.'

“Kevin Bing knows that his plans will remove hundreds of parking spots from our neighborhoods, but now that he’s in the runoff he’s too scared to admit it,” said Boggiano in the statement. “Everyone knows where I stand — I’ve always been against trading parking for bike lanes, and I always will be. Instead of making false attacks on my character, Kevin should answer these very simple, policy-based questions and come clean about his ‘war on cars’ policy agenda.”

Bing's team responded an hour later with the invitation for a public debate. Boggiano has yet to respond.