New London — Diverging opinions on everything from funding education to the state’s response to the opioid crisis were on display Tuesday as candidates for the 39th House District met for a Lunch with the Candidates.

Green Party candidate Ronna Stuller, Democrat Chris Soto and petitioning candidate Andrew Lockwood, a Republican, are vying for the seat held by longtime State Rep. Ernest Hewett.

Soto handedly defeated Hewett during a primary in August.

Soto, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Higher Edge, called education and job creation some of his top priorities.

He said he was dedicated to continued state support for New London's magnet school system but called on the state to fund the city at the rate it has promised.

He said the improving school system is acting as an economic driver for the entire city.

Lockwood, 56, co-chairman of the local watchdog group Looking Out for Taxpayers, said he was skeptical of the state’s ability to fund the school system and critical of the school district’s lack of transparency in its budgeting.

“To go to Hartford and ask for more tax dollars for schools in New London is going to be very tough,” he said.

He suggested the state should not fund the city’s schools without a full accounting from the school district about where the money is being spent.

Stuller agreed with Soto that the district continually was being shortchanged by the state. In addition to proper funding, she said the state needs to pick up the special education costs that exceed the average cost for a student.

Stuller, 67, a retired school teacher and chairwoman of the New London Green Party, proposed the idea of decriminalizing marijuana and heroin as one way to address the opioid epidemic.

“When criminals are in charge of manufacturing and distribution, there is no purity control, no dosage control and no law regulating sale to minors,” Stuller said. “And you can’t go to lawyers if you have a conflict. You have shootouts in the streets.”

Soto said he favored stricter laws on overprescription of painkillers and redirection of state resources into recovery services.

“We know what the war on drugs has done to communities like New London,” Soto said. “Hopefully we’ve learned we can’t arrest our way out of these issues.”

Lockwood agreed that some legislation on overprescription is needed but additionally called for stronger laws for dealers distributing the drugs.

Soto and Lockwood also weighed in on the possible development and use of state funds on an affordable housing complex at the former Edgerton School site as a replacement for outdated high-rises off Crystal Avenue.

The New London Housing Authority is under a court order to renovate the high-rises or find new housing for the residents there.

Stuller declined to comment because of her position on the Planning and Zoning Commission, which is in the middle of a public hearing on a zoning issue related to the Edgerton School site.

Soto stopped short of endorsing the Edgerton site but said it sounded like a “good project.”

“There’s no doubt we need a remedy for what is happening at the Crystal Avenue towers,” Soto said. “I do think those residents deserve better housing. We as a city have failed to plan for desegregating housing in our community.”

Lockwood is against the project and said he has sided with homeowners who have voiced concerns, not only about drug and gang activity, but with zoning changes needed to move the project forward.

He suggested as a solution vouchers for the more than 300 residents of the Thames River Apartments to allow them to live where they desire.

Tuesday's debate will be available for viewing at theday.com through Election Day.

g.smith@theday