JOHN FLORES CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN AN INCORRECT BELIEF REGARDING PENDING LEGISLATION AND HAS DECLINED OFFERS THAT WOULD CORRECT HIS INACCURATE COMPREHENSION. 

REGARDLESS OF PARTY AFFILIATION, MASSACHUSETTS DOESN'T NEED A SENATOR INCAPABLE OF CORRECTING AN INCORRECT BELIEF.   SAD!

Insults fly at second Senate debate

By Geoff Spillane
Posted Oct 26, 2018

Heated exchanges continue between Cyr, Flores.

WEST YARMOUTH — The campaign between state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, and Republican challenger John Flores almost took a civil turn Thursday night when Cyr called Flores “affable” and commended him for doing a good job working on the Cape Cod Community College board of trustees and Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel.

It didn’t last long.

Seconds later, Flores, a Barnstable town councilor, said he was at a “loss for words” and could not answer the reciprocal question, “Now, what are two things you think I’ve done well?” asked by Cyr.

Flores then asked Cyr about his residency and whether he lived with his parents in Truro or rented elsewhere. The inquiry sparked a feisty exchange, with Cyr calling his opponent “shameful,” “out of touch” and “insulting.”

That level of animosity pervaded the second debate between the two men in the Cape & Islands District state Senate race. The tone and demeanor of the campaign began to turn at a Cape Cod Times-sponsored debate nearly two weeks ago.

Nearly 100 people — seemingly all vocal supporters of one candidate or the other — attended Thursday’s debate, sponsored by radio station WXTK and moderated by talk show host Patrick Desmarais, at the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors.

“You have demonstrated a critical lack of judgment,” was Flores’ brief retort for not being able to find anything favorable to say about Cyr’s first term on Beacon Hill.

“You are sinking lower and lower,” said Cyr to Flores, suggesting he travel beyond the Orleans Rotary to see that he lives, shops and even goes to a town dump on the Outer Cape. “It’s profoundly insulting (to suggest) if you don’t own property you are less of a citizen.”

The direct questioning between the candidates capped off the 90-minute debate, but before that Desmarais and the audience held court, asking the questions.

Many hot-button topics were covered, including legislative pay raises, immigration, safe drug injection sites, ageism, creating a sustainable year-round economy for young people and affordable housing.

The candidates managed to find some common ground on at least one of the issues: whether the gray seal population in the region should be culled to address the great white shark population.

Both agreed that nothing could be done until the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act was altered. Cyr contended he would rely on scientific data to guide any changes to the law, while Flores said, if elected, he would pursue action to have the seals removed from the endangered list.

Perhaps the most heated moments in the debate came when the moderator raised an issue that has become a surprisingly hot topic in this race: blood lead levels in children.

Flores has accused Cyr of “doing the bidding” of the insurance industry and “endangering the lives of children, especially infants and toddlers” with recent legislation he sponsored.

The bill, passed by the Senate and now with the House Ways and Means Committee, proposes reduced measures of blood lead level in children that is required to trigger intervention from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Flores has asserted — in debates and in campaign advertising — that the bill does exactly the opposite and increases the blood lead levels required for public health intervention. His theory has been disputed by public health officials, lead poisoning experts, pediatricians and legislators interviewed by the Times.

Suzanne Condon, retired associate commissioner of the state Department of Public Health and Cyr’s supervisor when he worked at the agency, attended the debate. Condon, who has consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on lead poisoning, including recently in Flint, Michigan, asked Flores, “Where are you getting your facts?”

Flores remained steadfast to his interpretation of the bill, prompting Condon to offer to help him re-read the legislation.

The two candidates will face off again Nov. 1 at radio station WCAI. Early voting is currently underway at town halls throughout the region. Election Day is Nov. 6.

https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20181026/insults-fly-at-second-senate-debate