Video: City Council Candidates Go Head-To-Head in Forum

With less than two weeks to go until election day, 14 of the men and women vying for Meriden's five city council seats talked Meriden matters in a panel debate Wednesday night.

The candidates, seated in front of an audience packed into a multipurpose room at John Barry Elementary School, were questioned by a panel about their positions on some of the city's biggest issues – like downtown development, education, and tax rates. Click the short videos above to see candidates respond to a sampling of the questions that were posed. Council hopefuls talked about razing the Mills public housing complex, projected values and possible pitfalls of high speed rail, how to raise the city's commercial tax base, and whether or not it's hard to do business in Meriden.

The event was moderated by Ralph Tomaselli, Executive Editor of the Record-Journal. Local non-profit Meriden Children First hosted the event with the newspaper, along with the Meriden-Wallingford NAACP, the Meriden Federation of Teachers and the Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce.

The city's Democrats, Republicans, and We the People Party candidates were each present, except for WTP's Floresia Allen, who is running in Area 2. Party chair Lois DeMayo said Allen was out of town on business. A mayoral debate will be held next Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln Middle School.