New London - All six candidates for mayor were asked Thursday night about studies gathering dust on shelves, future development of the eastern section of New London and the first population increase in the city in about 10 years.

But during a 90-minute forum hosted by New London Landmarks, which focused on preservation and economic development, it was the one word they were asked to use to describe the city that seemed to differentiate the six candidates from one another.

"Diversity,'' said Rob Pero, the Republican candidate, an eight-term city councilor who suggested an immediate fix for Fort Trumbull would be to put up a band shell for musical performances, which would attract visitors to the state park. Longer-term projects would include building a railway platform at the fort and a walkway to downtown, Pero said.

"Distressed,'' said Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh, a petitioning candidate, who is against selling nine acres of Riverside Park for a U.S. Coast Guard Academy expansion and wants to tear down the Thames River public housing complex on Crystal Avenue and turn the roughly 13 acres over to the Coast Guard.

"Home,'' said Daryl Justin Finizio, the Democratic candidate, who moved into New London about 18 months ago and wants to improve the gateways to the city. He proposed capitalizing on the 800,000 visitors expected to pass through the city during OpSail2012 next summer and luring some of them to stay.

"Beautiful,'' said Andrew Lockwood, a petitioning candidate, who proposed the idea of a gondola to connect Riverside Park with the downtown Waterfront Park.

"Dynamic,'' said Martin T. Olsen Jr., also a petitioning candidate, who thinks the city should immediately start working on designing a pedestrian bridge to connect Fort Trumbull to the Waterfront Park. Olsen is a city councilor and has served for the past year as the city's last ceremonial mayor.

"Dysfunctional,'' said Michael Buscetto III, a two-term city councilor who lost the Democratic primary and decided to campaign for mayor as a write-in candidate. Buscetto's ideas included going into neighborhoods and talking about development, such as what to do with Harbor School when it is shuttered in a few years.

Thursday's forum was the third for the mayoral candidates. A final forum before the Nov. 8 election will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at New London High School.

Thursday's forum was streamed live on ustream and can be viewed at:

www.ustream.tv/channel/new-london-ct-mayoral-forum.

k.edgecomb@theday.com