Montville — Both candidates for mayor were rather agreeable during a debate Thursday night.

Moderated by The Day Editorial Page Editor Paul Choiniere and three high school students — Ashley Seldon, Lily Corrice and Zoe Melton — the debate was a largely civil exchange of ideas between Mayor Ron McDaniel and Town Council Chairman Thomas McNally. The two men said numerous times that they agreed on the issues facing Montville but disagreed on the manner of addressing them.

The debate at the high school was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and The Day. Choiniere and the students communicated via email to come up with questions, and the students discussed possible questions in class.

In his opening statement, McDaniel touted his resume and said the election would come down to who voters thought had the best education, real world experience and common sense. McDaniel has served as mayor of Montville since 2011.

He's a former state and U.S. Navy budget analyst, and he has run property management and oil businesses. He's also been a probate judge and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, along with other positions.

Both McDaniel and McNally have lived in Montville for more than two decades. In his introduction, McNally pointed to the town's aggressive collection of back taxes during his council tenure as a source of pride. He said he's tried to keep taxes to a bare minimum, and he mentioned the town's purchase of eight new school buses during his tenure.

McNally has a landscaping and property management business. He used to be a Water Pollution Control Authority assistant superintendent and a volunteer firefighter. He has an extensive background in public service, serving on the Board of Education, Public Safety Commission, Economic Development Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission and other bodies.

McDaniel and McNally's history goes beyond this year's election. They ran against each other in 2015 as well; McDaniel won by 750 votes. In 2012, McDaniel fired McNally from the WPCA for his connection to a pair of workplace injuries. McNally filed a lawsuit against McDaniel and other parties on the grounds that his dismissal was politically charged. The saga ended in a settlement.

Attendees at the debate vocally approved of a question moderators posed: "Is there one positive thing each of you can say about your opponent's leadership?"

McNally said McDaniel had the best interest of Montville in mind "most of the time." McDaniel answered that he has the best interest of the town in mind "all of the time," and said McNally is passionate about the town.

Candidates were asked whether the town should move to an independent police force rather than being under the umbrella of State Police Troop E. Their consensus on the issue was the first of several: both felt the move was inevitable, and McDaniel said it would be better for the town to have a recognizable police chief rather than a resident state trooper who covers multiple areas.

Moderators highlighted the national partisan divide by saying leaders insult one another and act like immature teenagers, so would McNally and McDaniel be able to work with the opposite party?

Each candidate said town politics are vastly different from national. They said they'd worked with each other recently in their respective positions. McDaniel seconded McNally's sentiment of "once the election is over, everybody works together."

The two also concurred on the town's recent $220,000 purchase of 29 acres of land off Route 163, despite an analysis from town planner Marcia Vlaun, which determined the value of the site to be approximately $90,000. McDaniel did say the process to purchase might have been rushed, but he believes, as does McNally, that it was a good investment for the town.

"We can argue about the value of what we paid for it, but it's done," McDaniel said.

As a host town for Mohegan Sun, McNally and McDaniel said the town needs to continue fighting for a greater share of casino revenues, and each said being a host town has put a strain on emergency management and infrastructure. McNally noted that Montville receives less than two percent of the Mohegan Pequot fund.

McDaniel drew cheers when he said the way the state treats Montville's host-town status is "shameful."

"I don't think we should tolerate it, and I think we should go up there and keep fighting for every dollar we're entitled to," he said.

McNally and McDaniel both feel the town should upgrade its community center, though McNally seemed to want a new one and McDaniel hoped to improve the existing space. The candidates acknowledged questionable coverage on weekends from the town's fire department, and noted that the current volunteer system isn't working, though neither were quite sure of the solution.

The two candidates still drew distinct contrasts. McNally was asked about the Town Council's decision to cut $246,000 from the Board of Education's budget proposal, a move McDaniel vetoed. McNally said the final budget was actually a 2.7 percent increase from last year's budget; McDaniel said he felt the Council cuts were too deep.

"We're spending money on education," McDaniel said addressing the students. "It's 63 percent of the budget in this town. You're the future, if we don't support you, we've doomed ourselves."

McNally continually dogged McDaniel about his record on economic development, saying specifically that the mayor only goes to one Economic Development Commission meeting a year. McNally offered the idea of hiring a marketing firm to help attract businesses to Montville. McDaniel responded by saying "brochures and videos" were not the way forward, but improved infrastructure was. 

McNally said there are enough water, sewer, electricity and gas services on Route 32, but McDaniel said he thought the town needed to expand to other areas. McNally ended the back and forth by saying he wasn't against expanding utilities.

The candidates were asked what they would say are their three top reasons to consider moving to Montville. McDaniel said the town's school system, foremost, and added it's why he originally moved here. His second reason was property values, his third was taxes. He said the town is 148th out of 169 in state tax loads per capita.

McNally also said the town's schools, and he added three more reasons: the close-knit community, the location between Norwich, East Lyme and New London and general affordability.

Before closing statements, Choiniere asked one last question, this time about party ideology. Why did McDaniel choose to be a Democrat and McNally a Republican?

McDaniel said he is a fiscal conservative and social liberal. He noted that he had grown up as a Republican before attending college. McNally said he is a Republican because he holds the Second Amendment and fiscal responsibility in high regard. But McDaniel added party affiliation is arbitrary in local politics, "where the rubber meets the road." The job of local politicians, he said, is to fix potholes and "make sure kids have textbooks."

McNally finished the debate by asking the audience if they wanted to "return to the days of tax increases," "30-year-old school buses" and "nepotism." He again criticized McDaniel for the town's lack of economic development under his leadership.

McDaniel said he wants to prepare Montville for increased activity at Pfizer and Electric Boat, so bettering housing opportunities and broadening the tax base. He concluded by saying he hopes to make sure Montville has the finest education system in the state.

s.spinella@theday.com