New London — Incumbent Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio opened his mayoral campaign headquarters on Golden Street Wednesday, standing atop a soap box to highlight a “progressive vision” for the city that includes creation of a hub of historic tourism, universal pre-K and a $15 minimum wage for employees at fast food restaurants and big box stores.

Just a few blocks away, City Councilor Michael Passero, his Democratic challenger, spoke at his headquarters on Bank Street about his economic vision for the city with a focus on retaining and attracting small business while forging better relationships with larger employers.

One of the two candidates will receive the party nomination at a July 21 Democratic caucus and are likely to face off in a Sept. 16 primary.

No Republican candidates have announced their intention to run in the city dominated by Democrats. New London Republican Town Committee Chairman Bill Vogel, however, said on Monday that the party "will have a candidate" in this year's mayoral race.

Passero fielded questions from the audience at his gathering of about 35 people and said it was just one in a series of forums in which he intended to outline his ideas for the city.

“I want to get people in the room not just to talk, but to hear their ideas — what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong,” Passero said.

Passero said some of the city’s largest employers, like Electric Boat, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and the three colleges, are themselves an asset to the smaller businesses because of the people they bring into the city on a daily basis.

Under the right conditions, more of those employees could become New London residents, he said.

“The engineers that work at Electric Boat, are we giving them an opportunity or losing them to suburbia?” Passero said.

He said attracting businesses with the ability to rehabilitate some of the aging downtown structures will strengthen the small business base. He suggested better partnerships with Main Street, the Chamber of Commerce and the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments to make that happen.

Both Finizio and Passero touted the impending transition of the City into an all magnet school district, the construction of the National Coast Guard Museum and establishment of the Thames River Heritage Park as major future economic drivers for the city.

Thames River Heritage Park is a proposal to link historic sites on both sides of the Thames River, including Fort Trumbull State Park, the proposed National Coast Guard Museum, Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park and the Submarine Force Museum in Groton.

Finizio said the park has the potential to become Groton and New London’s Freedom Trail, a comparison to Boston’s Freedom Trail, which also links historic sites across that city. He said more people walk the Freedom Trail than pass through the gates at Disney World each year.

“When we develop our economy based on historic tourism we’re also building a more stable economic path because these sites are not going anywhere. Pfizer can leave,” Finizio said.

Finizio released a 33-page operating plan called, “Our Way Forward,” which calls for a dramatic rise in the tourism industry over the next four years along with plans for accompanying infrastructure improvements and beautification efforts.

Finizio said he plans to work with school Superintendent Manuel Rivera to expand free, pre-K education through a public private partnership with local employers and cultural agencies.

Finizio said he was already involved in supporting state legislation to incentivize large corporations to pay $15 an hour.

He said New London could join the cities of Los Angeles and Seattle in passing a minimum wage ordinance through a phased plan beginning in 2016.

He said it would likely need approval of the City Council and perhaps even new state legislation, but he said he was committed to “fight for that.”

Finizio said he doesn’t expect his party's nod at next week’s caucus, adding, “we’ve never been the choice of the insider crowd in this town.”

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay