After weeks of organizing what could have been an important local government event on campus, the Illinois Student Senate-sponsored Champaign City Mayoral Debate between incumbent Mayor Jerry Schweighart and challenger Don Gerard has officially been canceled.

The University will not have the Champaign mayoral debate after it was announced that Schweighart could not attend the March 7 event. ISS and the Governmental Affairs Committee were sponsors of the event. According to an ISS press release, Peggy Wade, secretary to Schweighart, told David Pileski, student senator, via e-mail that Schweighart would be unable to attend the debate as “his schedule is just getting jammed full of meetings and other engagements.”

This comes less than a month after an e-mail from Wade acknowledging that Schweighart was willing to participate in the debate.

Pileski, chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, said he was disappointed to hear the news of the cancellation as it would have helped students make a more informed decision in the April 5 elections.

“They deserve to hear both candidates discuss the issues,” Pileski said.

Pileski said this event would be the best way to involve the Urbana-Champaign campus in local elections and government. He added that this was a goal of his since taking over the committee.

“I’ve really strived to personally make sure and reach out to educate voters and get them out to the polls,” Pileski said. “We felt something local would have the most impact.”

There has been no word yet on whether Gerard agreed to a discussion with the Governmental Affairs Committee. Pileski added that this was the only confirmed debate among the two mayoral candidates, although he did not rule out a possible make-up date for the event.

Schweighart was unavailable for comment.