WALLINGFORD- Since Mayor William W. Dickinson is running unopposed this year, the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce decided to include Town Council candidates in its forum Thursday at the Wallingford Senior Center, held in advance of the Nov. 3 election.

"It gives them a flavor," said Robin Wilson, the chamber's president, when asked why she believed the event was beneficial for local businesses and entrepreneurs. "We don't normally do the council, so we thought this would be an educational opportunity to give our businesses a flavor of where the council is coming from."

The forum was attended by 13 council candidates: seven Democrats- incumbents Vincenzo Di Natale, Nick Economopoulos and Vincent Testa, as well as Don Harwood, Robert Gross, John Sullivan and Geno Zandri - and six Republicans - incumbents Jerry Farrell Jr., John Le Tourneau, Robert Parisi and Rosemary Rascati, and Vincent Cervoni and Craig Fishbein.

Democrat Jesse Reynolds and Republican Thomas Laffin, did not attend, as both were out of town.

The candidates expressed their individual views on business-related topics and fielded a prepared question from the chamber's moderator.

"I've been a Wallingford resident all my life. I've lived here for over 50 years and I don't think there's a better place than Wallingford to live," said John Sullivan, a Democrat who is attempting his first run at public office and serves as a chief of staff for AT&T's local operations. "We need to start attracting businesses with emerging technologies … the shoemaker is gone, and we need to find a way to bring in new businesses that utilize these emerging new technologies."

Fishbein, a newcomer to the Republican's ticket and local attorney, said he thought Wallingford needs to develop a strong, intertwined, self-sustaining relationship amongst its current businesses.

"It's always been my credo to buy local. We have to buy local in order to stimulate job growth," Fishbein said. "I think that that is the key to everything here, to our economy. We can't worry about what's going on on the national level- we have to control our own economy locally."

Di Natale, co-owner of Ives Road Wine and Spirits, said he favors the town exploring ways to avoid a tax increase in the coming year, including possibly taking more money from its reserves and funneling it into the budget.

"We could have no net increase in taxes," said Di Natale, a three-term incumbent. "It's possible."

While Cervoni, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for a spot on the council in 2007 on the party's ticket, said he wanted to explore ways to attract more businesses to town, which he felt would lower taxes for residents.

"The present times present a challenge in terms of keeping taxes low," Cervoni said. "If we can increase business tax revenue, I thinkwe can reduce the burden of taxpayers across the board."

But Harwood, who serves as director of operations for Bristol- Myers Squibb, said he felt the town couldn't merely look to private business to cover the tax burden.

"We need to look introspectively," he said. "We need to think about how do we run our businesses differently."

LeTourneau, owner of Wallingford Lamp and Shade, said he wanted to see the town take a more active role in courting and attracting new businesses.

"The body of Wallingford is its people," said LeTourneau, who is serving his first term. "But the heart of Wallingford is its businesses, and that's something that we really need to ramp up."

Zandri, a retired electrical engineer and former five-term councilor, said he thought the town needed to scrutinize every single budget increase during budget season.

"It's amazing over the years how small little items like that can grow and increase," he said. "They don't go away, they just increase."

Farrell, who is serving his seventh term on the council and is the Commissioner of the state's Department of Consumer Protection, said he thought the town should be lauded for it low tax and utility rates, and that maintaining those needs to be the council's focus.

"I think what you can say is good about Wallingford is we have tried very hard to keep taxes at a reasonable level as well as provide a good level of services," he said.

In his address, Dickinson, a Republican who has held office since 1984, highlighted the current downturn in the economy and said the town needed to be particularly watchful of every new expense in the coming year and seek out ways to control and curb spending.

"I think we all are going to be dealing with a lot of counting," Dickinson said. "We're in difficult times and I don't think that should be lost on local government - it shouldn't be lost on any level of government - but these are serious times and we have to count every dollar."

Candidate forums featuring the mayor, school board and council candidates will be held Oct. 21 and 22 in Town Hall, 45 S. Main St., at 6:30 p.m. They are sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Cheshire/Wallingford and the Wallingford Junior Woman's Club.

dmoran@record-journal.com (203) 317-2224