Toledo's two mayoral candidates did not come together on much at a Friday forum — not even a common vision for the city's economic future and whether it needs more white collar jobs.

Incumbent Wade Kapszukiewicz said the city is proud of its "manufacturing DNA" but needs to continue diversifying its economy. He touted a planned downtown "innovation district" that city officials hope will blossom around the tech company Bitwise Industries, slated to move into the historic Jefferson Center.

"While we should be proud of our brawn, we can use our brain, too," Mr. Kapszukiewicz said.

Challenger Carty Finkbeiner, the three-term previous mayor, said he wouldn't do much to add more "corporate jobs." Rather, he outlined a vision for the city's economy centered on adding more well-trained blue collar workers. He said he's heard from local employers "yearning" for more construction workers and mechanics.

"Let's get back to what grew Toledo in the first place, and that is not being anything but proud to be considered a blue-collar, working-class community," Mr. Finkbeiner said.

Friday was the first time the two Democrats shared a stage this election season as they met at a Stranahan Theater forum hosted by the group Impact Ohio. The Blade was a sponsor of the event, which also included discussions on Lake Erie water quality and redistricting.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz won 54 percent of Tuesday's primary vote to Mr. Finkbeiner's 27 percent as the two eliminated Republican Jan Scotland and advanced to the November general election.

Mr. Finkbeiner's economic development strategy? "Get on an airplane," he said, and peel businesses away from other parts of the country. The Toledo sales pitch is simple, he said: Beautiful weather and fewer long-term impacts from climate change, such as more severe weather recently ravaging southern states.

"There must be lots of corporations that are now looking for, 'Where can we plant our roots? Where is there a good quality of life, and there's ample water available, and the weather is not going to be as tempestuous as in [southern states] and a half dozen others?'" Mr. Finkbeiner said.

He said he would focus on more nationwide promotion of the city, including through video and social media. And he also said he wants to model Toledo's economic revival after what Pittsburgh has created.

"They've done one fantastic job of rebuilding themselves, and they've done it around sports, they've done it around arts, and they've done it around their universities," Mr. Finkbeiner said.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz argued his administration has already put the city on the path to a strong economic future, citing a recent top award from Site Selection magazine, something the city had not won before. He also hinted at several companies in talks to relocate here. And he pointed to infrastructure work his administration has pushed to make the city more attractive to businesses, such as road improvements.

"We've checked a lot of those boxes," he said.

Beyond the economy, the two men offered their competing views on fixing Toledo's violent crime problem, which is about 50 homicides this year. They grappled over police officer numbers, with Mr. Kapszukiewicz reminding his opponent that Mr. Finkbeiner laid off 75 officers during the Great Recession, and Mr. Finkbeiner suggesting the city's recent police hiring under Mr. Kapszukiewicz is nothing to brag about.

Mr. Kapszukiewicz touted a "complex series of solutions" he had already begun implementing, addressing the issue with hiring violence interrupters, as well as adding additional officers during his tenure.

"We are investing in the things that cause the hopelessness that leads to violent crime," he said. "If you feel as though shooting a gun at someone else is the best option to improve your life, you probably have lost hope. And you almost certainly grew up in a neighborhood that had been disinvested in, you may have had poor access to health care and job training and education, and all those disparities we know exist."

Mr. Finkbeiner said this long-term approach is "dead wrong."

"I don't think we have months or years to deal with this," he said. "I think people are looking at where their families can feel safe. ... They're looking to move to Perrysburg or Maumee or Sylvania or Oregon if we don't get this under control."

Mr. Finkbeiner said the solution centers around flooding the streets with more police — a step he said was successful in his previous tenures when violent crime rose, including one period following what he described as multiple shootings by the "Bloods and Crips."

"The only thing standing between you and I, and safety and peace in Toledo neighborhoods, are our men and women in blue uniforms," he said, suggesting he would also advocate for pulling in sheriff's deputies and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers to assist. "Wade, it can be stopped."

First Published September 17, 2021, 9:54 p.m.