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	The front-runners for the mayor's seat in Minneapolis debated city finances, housing for those who want it, City Hall corruption and even snow removal at an MPR forum Wednesday night. Listen to the entire debate.

The most emotional exchange in the 90-minute forum at Minneapolis's Augsburg College was over solutions for people who can't readily afford to own or even rent a home. As she has throughout her campaign, Councilmember and DFL candidate Lisa McDonald pushed a plan to create a $250 million trust fund dedicated to affordable housing. She says it's a big plan for a big problem.

"It has the potential to generate $8,000 new units in the first five years; half at 30 and half at 50 percent of the metro median income," she said.

Incumbent Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton says such a plan is unrealistic. "If we were to issue $250 million in bonds for affordable housing, we would pay $350 million in interest. You do the math on that and tell me whether we can do that without a levy. It cannot be done," Sayles Belton said.

Sayles Belton, also a DFLer, maintains the city needs to stay the course with current city efforts and pressure the federal and state governments to pick up more of the tab.

Independent candidate and Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein says taxes and regulations are the biggest impediments to affordable housing. He says city officials should focus on restoring existing vacant houses and empty properties. "Why don't we fix the car in the garage, putting $300 dollars in it before we going out and financing another Rolls Royce? Eight-hundred boarded buildings, 1,000 empty lots; we need to use those assets first before we lob on more program dollars on an already overly burdened budget," Stenglein said.

In general, Stenglein sees the city's role defined in strict constitutional terms, with a bare-bones budget focused on basic services like police, fire and cleaning up trash, with Hennepin County filling in the gaps.

"The counties do the social fabric. Right now there's two of everything. The city has a health department, the county has a health department; the city has jobs in training, the county has a jobs in training; the city has cultural service delivery, the county has cultural service delivery. Two of everything worked on Noah's Ark; we don't need it in Minneapolis," Stenglein said.

As they have throughout the campaign, the three challengers criticized Sayles Belton for her part in bringing a Target store downtown and pushing the development of Block E at considerable cost to the city. Sayles Belton defends her stance, saying that is what downtown workers and residents have said they want and the reward will reveal itself down the road.

"Today, we will see those corporations or those entities paying about $50 million in taxes and when those tax-increment districts are defeased, it will represent $500 million in taxes for this community. That increase in valuation will go a long way in helping us pay for public safety, in paying for our employees who do public works," Sayles Belton said. Sayles Belton says you have to invest money to make money.

Another potential weakness that challengers hope to exploit is the scandal involving former Councilmember Brian Herron and the choppy effort to name an outside investigator. Herron admitted to extorting money from a grocer in his ward in exchange for political favors. Another developer is accused of offering Herron bribes in an effort to clear regulatory and political hurdles.

DFLer R.T. Rybak, an Internet business consultant, says the mayor should be more responsive toward naming an outside investigator. "Now this is more than just this one time. For years we have seen this kind of passive leadership out of the mayor's office. Every single issue seems to have to reach crisis proportions. It had to be 'Murderapolis' before we really grabbed ahold of crime. It had to be a housing crisis before we even began talking about it and we're still talking about it," Rybak said.

As the election draws closer, the candidates are doing more to distinguish themselves in voters minds. If Mayor Sayles Belton is the perceived frontrunner, then the rest are in a fight to get the next highest vote count on Tuesday. When candidates were allowed to ask each other questions, R.T. Rybak, challenged McDonald's admitted reputation as an agitator in city government, maintaining he brings special coalition-building skills on behalf of citizens. "As I've looked back on your record over the past eight years, I really have to say I haven't seen that many major accomplishments. Even on some of the major projects we agree on, you've certainly haven't been able to get a majority on the City Council and, unfortunately, not one of the people who works with you endorsed you," Rybak said.

McDonald responded by listing the unanimous Council vote for the city's first zoning code after a contentious debate, as well as passage of noise and air quality ordinances she supports. She also says she brought together small businesses and residents in her ward to build a cohesive development plan for the Lyndale Ave. and Lake St., intersection, an example she often sites as a potential model for other parts of the city.

Stenglein, an independent candidate, also challenged McDonald for her support to move the historic Schubert Theater rather than finding a less costly alternative. "I have two votes I regret, and that is one of them," McDonald said. "And I will tell you all good politicians know when to acknowledge when they've made a mistake."

McDonald says she also regrets voting to allow expansion at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The four candidates have agreed to a handful of additional debates in the remaining days before the primary. The slate of candidates for the election Tuesday numbers 22 in all. Only the top two vote-getters go on to the election in November.