Tuesday night’s first-ever UI Student Government-sponsored Iowa City City Council candidate forum saw little controversy or heated debate.

The five hopefuls in attendance generally agreed during their hour-long discussion, which ranged from the city budget to public safety and the UI-city relationship.

UISG officials said they held the event, located in the Iowa City Public Library, 23 S. Linn St., to give students a chance to hear the candidates’ stances on local issues before voting in the Nov. 3 election.

However, about half of the roughly 30 attendants were UISG representatives, said UISG Sen. Caitlin Ross, who helped plan the event.

The forum included UI student candidates Jeff Shipley and Dan Tallon and Iowa City residents Susan Mims and Terry Dickens. District B candidate Mark McCallum also attended, but his opponent, current City Councilor Connie Champion, was absent.

Candidates spent the most time discussing the city’s proposal to implement a franchise fee to provide funding for public-safety workers.

“The franchise fee requires charging more for energy to fund the hiring of police and firefighters,” Tallon said. “I want to see the budget take care of public safety first.”

Dickens agreed imposing the franchise fee would be a poor decision, saying “small businesses are considering moving out of Iowa City because of this franchise fee.”

However, candidates agreed public safety should be a key concern for the city and that the budget should be re-prioritized.

“I think we are all in agreement when we say public safety is our No. 1 concern,” Dickens said.

Candidates also spoke about the UI-city relationship, with all saying the communication flow needs to improve.

“University students, being the most vibrant and dynamic force in this community, have a lot to offer,” Shipley said. “The city could use our help tremendously.”

Mims agreed, noting she would like to see more regular discussion among city departments and key players at the university.

Ross said she was pleased with the turnout, especially because advertising hadn’t been as strong as she had hoped.

Many attendants said they supported Shipley, the UISG liaison to the City Council.

Ani DeGroot, a UI student, said she voted for Shipley in the primary election.

“I’m here to hear the other candidates and support Jeff,” she said.

Although Shipley supporters dominated the crowd, other candidates said they felt they had an equal chance to voice their opinions Tuesday night.

McCallum said he felt good about his performance at the forum.

“I got some good zingers in there,” he said. “I feel I did OK.”

Tallon said that while he saw mostly UISG members in the audience, the forum gave candidates an opportunity to prove they know the issues.

“The forums are really preparing people for city government,” he said.