New London - In November, voters will choose a mayor from a range of candidates whose ideas to better the city include, among other things, hiring a lobbyist, bringing the tall ship Bounty into port, creating interactive urban gardens on the waterfront, starting an international retail center and getting rid of "transient renters."

The six candidates running for mayor - City Councilors Rob Pero and Michael Buscetto III, Mayor Martin Olsen, Daryl Justin Finizio, Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh and Andrew Lockwood - also agree that improving New London's schools will address other problems in the city.

About 60 people gave up a beautiful fall afternoon Saturday - for which they were acknowledged and thanked by all the candidates - to attend a forum at Centro de le Comunidad. It was the first forum to include all six candidates, and at least two more are planned.

On Nov. 8, residents will be electing the first full-time mayor for the city in about nine decades.

Buscetto, who lost the Democratic primary in September and is running as a write-in candidate, led off the forum - and ended it - by telling people how to vote for him. "Take my T-shirts and buttons off, circle the dot and write my name on the ballot,'' said the two-term city coucnilor.

Buscetto also took an apparent shot at Finizio, who beat him in the primary and had only recently moved to New London from Westerly. As a lifelong resident of New London, Buscetto said, he has the city's best interest at heart and isn't going anywhere.

"When times are tough, who will stay?'' asked Buscetto. who advocated for community gardens and job training for high school graduates.

In his opening statement, Finizio, who calls himself a progressive Democrat, said the differences among the candidates are great but "never personal.''

"It's not an easy thing to put yourself out there,'' he said. "I don't doubt anyone's sincerity. ... When the election is over, we all need to work together."

Finizio wants to hire a grants writer and a lobbyist to represent the city in Hartford and is in favor of building a new high school.

Pero, a Republican, who has served 16 years on the council, urged the audience to focus on the issues - improving schools, keeping taxes low and creating programs to increase owner-occupied housing.

"Don't vote on emotion or anger,'' he said. "Vote calmly.''

Pero, who is the only candidate who promises not to raise taxes during his first two years in office, said his years in public office have prepared him to work collaboratively with the school department and other governments to save money.

"I'll be your lobbyist,'' he said.

Candidates were asked where they stand on the issue of selling about half of Riverside Park to the Coast Guard Academy, but ultimately voters will decide the fate of the park during a referendum the same day as the election.

Buscetto and Pero are the only two candidates who say they think the city should sell about nine acres of the 18-acre park to the Coast Guard for $2.9 million and make improvements to the remaining nine acres. Every other candidate wants the city to keep the entire park.

Olsen, a Republican who is running as a petitioning candidate, is serving a one-year term as the last ceremonial mayor. He said he wants to focus on the public schools, which posted dismal scores in the last round of state testing.

"The single biggest issue facing the city is education,'' Olsen said. "We are trawling on the bottom.''

The mayor will be an ex-officio member of the Board of Education, and Olsen said he would use that seat to help the board "think outside the box.'' One suggestion, he said, is creating a program like the Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit, community-based group that finds ways to improve the lives of families to break the cycle of poverty.

Lockwood, who has run unsuccessfully for City Council and state representative and is running as a petitioning candidate, said the city needs to sell itself and take advantage of its assets. He said he's been in contact with the owners of the Bounty, which was built in 1962 for the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty," to try to persuade them to send the ship to New London. He said he was asked to go to Morocco and sail the ship to Spain, but he had to decline. He said he's also talking to Windham Resorts about building a hotel in Fort Trumbull and Stew Leonard's to bring its specialty grocery store into downtown.

"My father used to say I could sell ice to an Eskimo,'' Lockwood said.

Hopkins-Cavanagh, also a petitioning candidate, put forth her agenda, which includes filling empty storefronts with international shops; tearing down the Thames River Apartments, a complex of low-income high-rises on Crystal Avenue; and increasing home ownership.

"Our problems are multi-families (houses) that are purchased by absentee landlords,'' she said, blaming "transient renters'' for the city's high crime rate and failing public schools.

k.edgecomb@theday.com

The Schedule

What: Meet the Candidates forums for New London's Nov. 8 election.

When: 7 p.m

Where: New London Senior Center, 120 Broad St.

Tuesday: Board of Education

Oct. 18: City Council

Oct. 24: Mayor

Sponsor: The Neighborhood Alliance and League of Women Voters of Southeastern Connecticut.

Information: (860) 437-6394.