BREMERTON — During Patty Lent’s eight years as mayor of Bremerton, city government has gone from deficit spending to balanced budget, there are reportedly “no veterans unsheltered today,” she said, and 1,200 jobs have been created.

“We’ve done some remarkable things for the residents of Bremerton, and I want to continue that,” she said.

Greg Wheeler, the City Council president who hopes to succeed her as mayor, painted a different picture. There is a lack of job opportunities in the city, “which is a result of a lack of business prosperity,” he said. “We do not have enough small businesses thriving. It is vital for the city of Bremerton to maintain and build an economy. This is very, very important, and it’s why I’m running for mayor.”

Lent and Wheeler shared their vision for the future — and their roadmaps on how to get there — at the League of Women Voters candidates forum Oct. 3 in the Norm Dicks Government Center. The general election is Nov. 7.

The election features two heavy hitters in the race for chief executive of the largest city in Kitsap: Lent, a two-term mayor, former county commissioner, and nonprofit president or vice president, who’s as comfortable lobbying for accessible health care in Bremerton as she is competing in a pie-eating contest at the county fair. And Wheeler, a retired journeyman pipe fitter who returned to school to earn an MBA at night while serving as City Council president.

Opening statements were followed by a question-and-answer period; the moderator asked the candidates questions provided by the audience. Below are some of the questions asked at the forum.

Question: What do you consider to be your cornerstone accomplishment in the last four years?

Lent: “One of my accomplishment is the roads and streets we have down on Washington Avenue, Lebo Boulevard, Lower Wheaton Way. Those roads were provided through grant money … Those funds were all given to us by the federal government and gas tax.”

Wheeler: “A program that I dreamt up and put into action: Leadership and Investment Fostering Transformation, Operation LIFT. This was an idea where we could take the citizen volunteers from our police department and increase their duties [and] start to help with code enforcement.”

Question: What are your goals for the next four years?

Lent: “I’d like to see annexation. We did a comprehensive plan for Gorst. Gorst should be annexed into the city. Housing, we’re taking 50 of our most chronic homeless people off the street. I want to see that through to fruition.”

Wheeler: “Small business development is, in my heart, the backbone of Bremerton’s future. If I can see the commercial spaces filled, I would see that as success. It won’t be done overnight. [Finishing the Pendergast] soccer field. If you could imagine our city being a showcase for soccer, lacrosse, rugby tournaments … summer programs for kids. We’re talking about being a regional attraction.”

Question: What is your plan for funding street repairs and maintenance?

Lent: “We’re going to go out and see if people will pay for their parking and limit their parking to those [downtown] neighborhoods. The money that comes in from that parking [would] go to [that] street. We’ve identified 400 parking places up at Pendergast [Regional Park] … Take that as a parking area and transport them by bus. Those are things that I think will make a tremendous difference in our city.”

Wheeler: “I totally disagree with using our downtown streets and residential streets for commuter parking and using it as a funding scheme for streets. The only real way to move forward with funding … is to build up our economy. We have to have a city that is welcoming to business. We have to create jobs. There is no other way. When you have wealth, when you have economy, your general fund grows. Right now, Bremerton should roll out the red carpet and consider [ourselves] open for business. That’s going to fund your street program.”

Question: How will you save Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton?

Lent: “We wrote a letter… We wanted them to do a reconsideration on that move. We didn’t think over 300 beds needed to move. Actually, the state public health [department] did do a reconsideration. That decision is coming out in November. Keeping 85 beds, that would be perfect for Bremerton.”

Wheeler: “What we need to do … is to work with regulatory environment to ensure we keep beds here. Build our own community hospital. This will be a grassroots, community-led effort. Real commitment on where the emergency room is going to go and when it’s going to happen. I feel it’s important to have [the hospital’s timeline] down on record. Our citizens deserve better. A city like Bremerton deserves so much more.”

Question: Why does Bremerton need an economic development manager, and what are your goals for that position?

Lent: “I hired the economic development manager and I’m very happy. In the three months he’s been here, he’s brought in four businesses and helped relocate another business. He’s doing an excellent job. For the first seven years, my office [and] I did all of that outreach. We did have new businesses. WinCo, the theater, we got a lot of people that came into the city and it was all through the efforts I did. I couldn’t do the outreach required. Our new manager has met every single property owner in the city. He’s doing a great job.”

Wheeler: “We don’t need an economic development manager. I intend on doing that job myself. I have that financial background, I hold an MBA, I have certifications, experience … That position, we don’t need. I’d rather hire a parks worker or put another bicycle patrol officer on our streets.”

Choose one: Funding for parks, or funding for streets? Why?

Lent: “I’m going to say funding for streets. We have 35 marvelous parks, and every year I have been the mayor, we had upgrading and new parks being built. We have a volunteer system. We get 500 volunteers ever year for the Bremerton Clean Up. We’re almost back up to what we were in 2007, and I’m telling you, the people who work for parks love parks. [Parks] are not being abused or misused, but our streets are.”

Wheeler: “I wish I could show folks how woefully underfunded the staff at the Parks Department is. The parks system is not sustainable with our current economic environment. It doesn’t show because a lot of the parks are new … You’re not going to see this real rough degradation. They look fresh compared to what we’ve had in the past. [But] what folks are telling me over and over — they want a plan for roads. They want a real plan for streets. If we identify the revenue source … they’re going to want to see us do streets, and that’s what I’m going to do for them.”

Question: What is your plan for dealing effectively with the state Legislature?

Lent: “The last seven years, I’ve been down in Olympia, face to face. I work with Association of Washington Cities. I work with them for [a share of the tax revenue] that just goes straight to the state. A lot of what we need is that shared revenue.”

Wheeler: “I’ll just have a nice phone call and discuss challenges in Bremerton. We’re going to use technology and be innovative, and folks are going to be fine with that. Developing relationships, keep it professional and make sure at all times we’ll be advocating for the citizens of Bremerton.”

Closing statements

After the questions, each candidate was given the opportunity to make a closing statement. They were asked to focus on what Bremerton’s strongest assets are.

Lent: “I think the strongest asset is the diversity. We have just about everything you could possibly want in the city. We’re 30 square miles and have 30,500 people today. We have the shipyard. We have the entertainment we talked about, the 35 parks. This city is not just an exciting place, but it has a history.

“In the next term, I feel that the growth of this city is going to happen everywhere. With all of the people that live here and the things we have in store for them, it is happening for us. We are a beautiful city surrounded by water. We have the mountains. We have a college.”

Wheeler: “We do have the top community college in the state, and it is in the top 10 in the nation. We have the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. We have the one-hour to half-hour ride over to Seattle, which is a wonderful city with opportunities of its own, and we have view properties that are unmatched.

“One of the things that has compelled me to run … is this unmatched potential we have. Looking at this, I have the skills, I have the professional experience, I have the educational background, I have the civic involvement, elected experience, volunteer and nonprofit experience, to lead this city, to help our citizens achieve this full potential. We’re at a crossroads. Economic expansions don’t happen forever. We need to be involved in this, we need to be in on this.”

To view the forum in its entirety, visit goo.gl/YE1Wia.

— Michelle Beahm is online editor for the Kitsap News Group. She can be reached at mbeahm@soundpublishing.com.