The race for Richmond mayor got off to a cautious, carefully worded start as five candidates outlined their stands in a question-and-answer session with Richmond Times-Dispatch reporters and editors yesterday.

The original field of seven mayoral candidates who met last Tuesday's filing deadline was reduced by two. Rodney D.C. Barnes, a contractor, and L. Shirley Harvey, a former city councilwoman, will not be on the Nov. 4 ballot because they failed to provide enough valid signatures, the city voter registrar's office said.

Most of the survivors dodged questions about specific steps to cut fat and waste in City Hall as well as how they would grade Mayor L. Douglas Wilder's term as the city's first directly elected mayor since the 1940s.

All said they would try for a collaborative approach.

Two came out strongly against further development on the banks of the James River, while most said wooing a Triple-A baseball team to replace the departing Richmond Braves is a priority.

Two went for the potentially -- if modestly -- controversial: Council President William J. Pantele said he favors tougher street-level policing, and attorney Robert J. Grey Jr. called for reducing the concentration of public housing in the city.

Del. Dwight Clinton Jones struck a populist tone, saying he wants to show the city "it's not just about Main Street -- it's about all of the people."

Architect Lawrence E. Williams Sr. called for building stronger neighborhoods, and lawyer and political consultant Paul Goldman, a former aide to Wilder who helped shape the modern mayor's office, proposed spending cuts to ease the tax burden on residents.

Most said their urban models for Richmond include Charleston, S.C., while several said they also like Memphis, Tenn., and Oklahoma City. Grey also suggested Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

Here are highlights of where the five contenders stand on issues:

PUBLIC SAFETY

Jones called for a nationwide search for a successor to former Police Chief Rodney Monroe.

He said a 37-percent increase in the police budget over the past four years ought to be scrutinized, but "if there is an agency that we ought to spend more money on, it is public safety."

Pantele believes his call for tougher street-level police presence is the most controversial part of his program.

"I think we're spending too much, but in many cases under the circumstances, it is because we have to," he said. Pantele said the police incurred some big bills -- citing computers and youth-recreation programs as examples -- on tasks other city agencies should be doing better.

SCHOOLS

Williams said he believes in offering neighborhood schools over busing programs and in giving neighborhoods more control over their schools.

Goldman proposed a charter school for vocational education and a "unity council" of residents and city officials that would work on improving schools.

"I'm going to bring the mayor down to where we've got everybody in a group, and we'll all talk," he said.

MONEY

"I don't think there's any question that Richmond city government has become larded with excess," said Pantele, saying he believes instituting recommendations by the city auditor would save $40 million.

Williams said he would focus on the city's buying and contracting practices, especially for construction.

Goldman said city officials haven't used tools they already have to cut costs.

"The fact of the matter is we have the most expensive City Hall, the most expensive City Council, the most expensive school bureaucracy in the state and the people can't afford it."

JAMES RIVER

Grey, Jones and Pantele called for balancing development with preserving open space and providing public access along the James east of downtown.

Williams and Goldman took a more cautious approach. "The less that we can do on the river preserves it for future generations," Williams said.

Goldman said he opposes the proposed Echo Harbour condominium project and the mayor's proposed marina, adding: "I believe that we have an obligation to serve the future generations, and we cannot afford any mistakes."

POVERTY

"You start with the schools." Goldman said. "I think we've wasted enough young lives. It is time to stop. The way out is an education."

Grey said the city needs to do something about its public housing.

"We can, if we adopt a can-do attitude, reduce the concentration of public housing in the city and create transition housing, surround subsidized housing with new housing and build neighborhoods that people can be proud of," he said.

Jones said the revitalization of Blackwell is a model, where renovated houses and new homes replaced rundown public housing.

"We need a mayor who is going to work with all neighborhoods and I think we need a viable Hull Street. We need a viable 25th Street. We need a viable Brookland Park Boulevard as well as a viable Broad Street and Main Street and Cary Street," he said.

BASEBALL

Jones said Richmond should focus on "bringing nothing less than Triple-A baseball back" and also "aspire to be more than just a minor-league town."

Grey said the city's expectations need to be realistic and that a Double-A franchise might be a better fit business-wise. "There's no loss in being a Double-A franchise or a Triple-A franchise if the numbers work."

THE INCUMBENT

Pantele gave the mayor a grade of "incomplete," while Williams offered a Band C+.

"I think his attempt was to establish a strong mayor and the image and the parameters of a strong mayor," Williams said. "That may have been too much, too fast to do that."

Pantele said Wilder hasn't come close to fulfilling the city's and region's aspirations.

"The degree of conflict -- some apologists will say, well, that was a good thing. Was it? I don't think that the people think so at all. I think that we've had a lot of missed opportunities in the last four years, and now our charge is to take this city forward."

Grey said he likes that Wilder "has made it OK to challenge the status quo, and he has created an environment where we now can institute change where change is needed. Where I think we have got to make ourselves attractive is by building a collaborative model. . . . I think the time for confrontation has passed. I think we have got to find a way to bring ourselves in line with being able to disagree agreeably."

Contact David Ress at (804) 649-6051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.