I attended two more city election forums last week: a free-form arts forum at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art on Feb. 17 and a senior issues forum at the Capital Senior Center on Feb. 18.

Here are some highlights from the Feb. 17 arts forum:

Councilwoman Belinda Gergel said that as long as she has been on City Council, there has never been a discussion of where the arts fit into the future of the city and what the city should be doing for the arts. She pledged to make that discussion happen. She also drilled several candidates on the hospitality tax, asking if they would pledge to keep the full two cents going toward arts and tourism-generating activities.

Steve Morrison questioned the efficacy of the Cultural Council and suggested that it might need to be shut down. “It’s broken … it’s not functioning,” he said. It was a bold stand to take in front of an arts crowd, but one that also solidified his reputation as the mayoral candidate who best understands local arts issues.

There was much discussion about the need for artists’ studio space and the desire of some in the arts community for a city-owned gallery. Both Morrison and Aaron Johnson emphasized that the city should look toward abandoned buildings as one way to create studio, rehearsal or other spaces for artists.

Local artist and Free Times art critic Mary Gilkerson and Councilman Kirkman Finlay sparred over the idea of a city “arts czar,” which was a key recommendation of a city arts task force several years ago. Gilkerson supports the idea (though not the term “czar”). Finlay brought up the example of former Cultural Council director Dot Ryall and said, “She was a de facto arts czar, and that caused a lot of problems.”

Finlay reiterated his position that for the arts to grow, some groups will have to give up some H-tax revenue. “The hospitality tax has moved so much into operating expenses that there is no room to build new capacity,” Finlay said. He foresees a role based more on capital infrastructure: “The city does a poor job running arts groups: We should build and get out of the way.”

Several District 4 candidates also attended, including former city manager Leona Plaugh and former Free Times columnist Kevin Fisher. Plaugh said the city needs to “get some of the other funding out of the H-tax” and focus it more tightly on arts and tourism-generating activities. Fisher pointed to the 701 Center as an excellent example of creating an arts space out of an abandoned building and said Olympia would be a good place for other arts projects to take root.

The next night at the Capital Senior Center, the mayoral candidates took the stage in a debate moderated by Charles Bierbauer, former CNN senior Washington correspondent and dean of USC’s College of Mass Communication and Information Studies.

Ostensibly a forum on senior issues, ultimately the forum underlined the extent to which seniors have a stake in many of the same issues as other city residents — especially public safety and public transportation.

Here are some highlights from the Feb. 18 forum:

Overall, Benjamin and Johnson showed the most improvement over previous forums. Benjamin was more energetic and tightly focused; Johnson more passionate and confident.

Also notable was the clash between Benjamin and Finlay, which was was more heated than in previous settings I have seen.

Benjamin and Finlay sparred over the issue of public safety. Benjamin said the city’s police and fire departments have been “decimated” and that the city did not have enough gang or narcotics officers. Finlay countered that much of what has been cut from the police department has been overtime pay, the result being a more efficient force, not a weaker one.

Benjamin said the city has officers without weapons and vehicles. He said it was “insulting to tell people they have to choose between public safety and water & sewer.”

“We are not fully staffed and the city is feeling the effects every day,” Benjamin said.

Finlay asked why Benjamin supported spending more money -- in overtime pay -- for the same number of officers.

Morrison said the city needs “a crackdown on gangs and crime immediately” but that “the other side is excellent schools” and engaging children in the afternoons to keep them out of trouble. He suggested moving some city parks and recreation programs directly into schools.

Nammu Mohammad said the city “doesn’t have a gang problem, we have a cash problem,” meaning the root cause is joblessness.

Irwin Wilson said “safety doesn’t have time for budgets” and that the city must find a way to create safety now. He suggested a program where younger retirees would check in on the elderly.

Twenty-five-year-old business owner Aaron Johnson stepped into his own at the forum, displaying a level of passion and confidence not seen in previous settings. Johnson spoke on the importance of fixing the city’s bus system; lamented the low voter-turnout rates among the young (only 288 residents between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in the last city election, he said); and detailed the difference between “chronic” and “acute” homelessness, urging his fellow candidates to take the distinction into account when making policy decisions.

Also on the issue of homelessness,  Morrison split from Finlay and Benjamin on the question of the Midlands Housing Alliance’s plan to build a shelter on Elmwood Avenue.

Benjamin said a homeless shelter should be “far away from the city center” and that “homelessness and panhandling” are among the biggest problems downtown. Finlay said he had tried earlier to have the MHA place its shelter near the water plant. He maintained that would have been a better location and saved millions of dollars. For his part, Morrison said the city had dithered for 20 years on the issue and that the MHA effort represents the business community stepping into the void of city inaction. Though not a perfect plan, he said, the city should support it as the most viable current option.

On the question of city finances, all the candidates acknowledged the city's sparse resources but sounded different tones.

Morrison said it is especially important during tight times to think strategically about the future. In tightening up today, he said, "We need to focus on what is most important in five years."

Finlay pledged to be a new kind of leader. “I will make no promises that can’t be kept,” he said. “We have excelled in unfulfilled promises in the last 10 years, and I’m tired of it.” He said the city needs to "fundamentally restructure."

"Everybody will tell you where the money should go," Finlay said, adding that he is the only one who will state specifically where it should come from.

Responding to Finlay's laying out of the city's fiscal woes, Benjamin said: "The city does not have a revenue problem. The city has a priorities problem. Our budget needs to reflect our priorities."