All seven candidates are Republicans, but the race itself is nonpartisan.

Incumbents in the race are Gary Milner, 48; Carolyn Riggle, 52; and Windell Wheeler, 68. Challenging them are Tim Dodge, 45; Steve Hill, 46; Keith Mangine, 40; and Ed Paxton, 45.

Lisa Keller, 35, was appointed to council last September to fill the unexpired term of Ward 2 councilman Dwight Crum, who resigned. The term expires Nov. 14 and Keller is unopposed for the remaining two years of the term. She also is a Republican.

ThisWeek asked the at-large candidates to answer the following questions related to issues facing the city.

In central Ohio, the city of Delaware stands out as a mature city, more than 200 years old, that is still a growing city of about 34,000 residents. Which is a greater challenge -- age or growth -- and why?

Dodge: In my opinion, growth is the greater problem. There is no guarantee when and how much you will grow, so therefore it's hard to set a budget by growth. As we've seen, our economy plays a huge part in this arena. As responsible leaders, we can't sit on our hands waiting for the economy to turn and hope things will get better. We have to make tough decisions now to maintain the trust of the taxpayers and keep the continued great services for Delaware residents.

Hill: Age, for it is time that has worn away at our city water and sewage lines, it is time that erodes our sidewalks and streets. It is time that causes the breakdown in our city equipment. All of which must be consistently maintained and in time, replaced. Past city council members have squandered the opportunities that were presented to them to properly plan for the future while the city was experiencing rapid growth. Instead of being prudent planners, they acted like the financial prosperity would go on forever.

Mangine: My main concern for the city of Delaware is growth that balances the things that make this community great. I want to see this community to continue to grow, by attracting more people to this great city, either through commerce or residency. However, I do not want to do it at the cost of the history of the city or the identity of the community. I am for having box stores, but not vacant buildings. I am for a business and shopping district, but I want to see a vibrant downtown district as well. I am for new business and new stores, but those stores need to address the community needs. I am for assisting struggling business, but those businesses need to give back to the city and local community.

Milner: In my opinion, age is a greater challenge than growth. With impact and capacity fees in place for new builds, it offsets some of the cost of the growth. Aging infrastructure on the other hand is a cost that, depending on the age and size, places a burden on the city budget.

Paxton: I am assuming that when you say Delaware is a mature city, you mean that the infrastructure is getting old and outdated. The greater challenge is age. The challenge will be to replace old and outdated sewer lines, water lines and roads, without deterring growth and raising taxes.

Riggle: Age and growth seem to go hand in hand. Because we are 200 years old, our infrastructure needs to be updated in many areas, our overhead lines, our water and sewer lines and as we make these improvements, we can add the fiber lines which will help our growth for businesses and industries. I believe because Delaware is such an old and beautiful city, it entices residential growth.

Wheeler: Age has given us many nice old neighborhoods and a downtown that has been lovingly renovated by the owners. Age has impacted some of our infrastructure, such as the water treatment plant. Growth has been a positive because it has provided employees for our greatly expanded industrial park and our business centers.

Do residents receive good value for the city of Delaware taxes they pay?

Dodge: This is not a yes or no question. I believe Delaware has exceptional safety services for its 34,000 residents. I also believe that our city is administration heavy for its size. When most of the country has been hit hard by the recession, Delaware has been very fortunate. However, the current leadership has neglected to take steps in preparing for the "shortfall" in this year's budget when home builders stopped building houses. That is just a portion of the revenue issues. I believe that city leadership could do a better job with its use of taxpayers' money.

Hill: Our city employees are a credit to our community. However, the city's unbalanced budget and lack of saving money for much-needed capital improvements have resulted in increasing our fee structure, which in turn leads to a poor business environment, as is evident by the closing of the downtown Kroger after decades in business.

Mangine: I think that the residents of the city of Delaware do receive a fair value for the taxes they pay. I do think that they could receive a better value and have more input with new leadership in office. I believe that new ideas will breed new savings and foster an environment of efficiency.

Milner: If you compare our services to the cities with a higher tax rate, we are equal or better in most cases. I would say that our citizens receive a very good value for the taxes they pay.

Paxton: I believe that the city services are second to none. Having moved from Columbus, I have found that the city's employees make the difference. To make a long story short, I needed emergency water services on a Saturday morning at my business downtown. The police dispatcher called a city water works employee. That city employee stopped what they were doing and fixed my problem within the hour. Having lived in Columbus for several years, I will guarantee that my issue would not have been resolved for several days. It was great to see the departments working together to solve my problem. That is what makes Delaware a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Riggle: The city of Delaware offers full services to all of us and I think they do a great job.

Wheeler: The city general fund operates on a 1-percent income tax. This is about the lowest in the central Ohio area. Other parts of the income tax are dedicated to specific uses and cannot be directed to other uses. We have been able to provide citizens expected services with this 1 percent by careful budgeting.

What specific economic development tools should the city use to attract new businesses and help existing businesses expand?

Dodge: Tax abatements, revolving loan funds and grants are all good resources. City leaders should also work with owners of downtown-westside buildings to improve communications and offer better business opportunities for small businesses. This could be accomplished by offering creative rent payment programs.

Hill: Cutting expenses, taxes and fees is a great way to stimulate our local economy.

Mangine: First, the city of Delaware must make our community attractive for businesses by keeping our taxes low. This will attract businesses and their employees to Delaware. Delaware must also provide businesses with the resources they need to conduct business. Resources include a well-educated and skilled pool of employees; infrastructure to meet the needs of 21st century businesses, such as high-speed fiber optics and upgraded power grids; and continued relationships with current educational institutions in Delaware and a push to attract more institutions of higher learning.

Secondly, Delaware should embrace the businesses within the city and work with Main Street Delaware to attract new retail and restaurant business to Delaware. I believe that parking is a key issue for the business district. I would like to see a modified on-street parking plan, with an improved public parking plan. Our downtown businesses are the lifeblood of this city. They are the showcase that will attract visitors and those visitors will spend money in the city.

Milner: The best economic development tool is to have the infrastructure (roads, utilities, fiber optics) in place that new businesses seek in a site. We need to continue to have ready-to-build sites available. We (the city in general) also need to keep our schools strong to provide an educated work force.

Paxton: I think the city needs first and foremost an economic development director. I think that the city needs to work with prospective businesses and impress upon them the benefits of doing business within the city limits. As a small business owner in Delaware, I think that the only thing that the city is in a position to do is be an advocate for businesses. I don't think they are in a position to cut income and personal property taxes, which would help my business grow.

Riggle: Now that we not have economic developer per se (we miss Gus Comstock) we need to have some of those within our administration to pick up the slack by researching and getting our city's name out there. Delaware usually offers TIFs and abatements to entice companies, if needed. Of course we very careful to not take away from our schools. I don't believe we should advertise these offers until we get down to the final negotiation. Delaware has a lot of land ready to be developed for industry and once the fiber ring and Sawmill Parkway are completed, we market it correctly, they'll be knocking at our door.

Wheeler: I have been involved with an economic plan to retain existing business and recruit new business. One strong tool has been meeting with owners and managers of all of the companies in Delaware. Our goal is to be available to help guide them with city issues and to help them grow and expand.

The city faces a challenging 2010 budget and spending reductions are certain. Will you ask the city manager to focus on reducing personnel or reducing services as a way to cut costs?

Dodge: I mentioned earlier that I believe we are administrative heavy for our city's size. I would be encouraging the city manager to focus on time management of personnel and to look very hard at where we can cut or combine city jobs to improve on our spending. Services should not suffer in the near future in Delaware.

Hill: It should be both. However, the city manager has already stated at a previous city council meeting that they have reduced just about all the material cost they can. While we should try to cut non-personnel costs before individuals are considered for lay-offs, there currently exists excessive administrative resources that should be subject to a reduction in force.

Mangine: I do not think that the answer can be one or the other, but a combination of both personnel reductions and service reductions. No answer will please everyone and no one action will balance a budget. The first responsibility of the city council is to balance the budget while providing essential services for the residents. I think that if we talk to the residents, we can come up with ideas for efficiencies that will allow for cost savings, while keeping service cuts to a minimum.

Milner: Reducing personnel and services will probably both be necessary. In many cases they go hand in hand. If you lay off personnel, it will most likely lead to a reduction in services. The challenge is to keep the reduction in services to a bare minimum.

Paxton: I don't think it is just the city manager's responsibility to cut costs. I think it is incumbent upon us all to find a way to live within our means. Do I think the city might be overstaffed in a couple of places, yes. Do I think staff reductions are the only answer, no.

Riggle: Right now I hate the thought of letting anyone go or reducing services. Everyone with the city is trying to come up with ways to save money so this doesn't have to happen. I would like the city to take a look at some of the buildings we own and possibly combine locations, i.e.. the engineer's office on East William Street at one point the church beside it wanted to purchase that for parking. Could we move the engineer's department over to Ross Street? That building is used mostly for storage and sits pretty much empty during working hours. Or take a look at the building which public works recently moved into, possibly move them there. We would also save on utilities by combining work forces and maybe sharing administration assistants.

Wheeler: Council will focus on all areas of the budget whether it be services, personnel, or supplies. Reduction in personnel in the 2009 budget has already affected some services.

Are you pleased or displeased with the overall direction that the city of Delaware is taking?

Dodge: I believe that Delaware is a great place to live, raise a family, we have great schools, and it's certainly a great place to grow old with all our senior services. The current leadership has become stagnant in working for the community and seems to pursue their own agendas. City council should always be working in the best interest for all of Delaware, not just a select few. We don't need career politicians and parade organizers. We need leaders who are ready to make the tough decisions to continue to move Delaware into the future. We need progressive, forward thinking leaders who can look at the economic indicators and develop a 10- to 20-year plan that will meet the needs, growth, infrastructure, and maintain the excellent services Delawareans have come to expect.

Hill: I love my community, my neighbors, and the friendliness of this wonderful city. However, I am displeased with poor financial management that has overly burdened citizens and businesses in Delaware, which is why I am running for Delaware City Council.

Mangine: Since I chose to move to Delaware five years ago, I have to say that I have been pleased with the overall direction of the city. However, I would not be running for office if I did not think that the direction could be improved. I enjoy hearing about the way Delaware used to be, but I want all of us to dream about how great Delaware can be.

Milner: Pleased or displeased with the overall direction of the city? That answer could take pages and I could only guess the incumbents would be pleased and the challengers displeased. I am both. I am pleased that we have a diverse industrial-business base and have not felt the effects of a bad economy as hard as many other communities. I am not pleased that our aging infrastructure needs to be upgraded (roads, water treatment plant) at a time when the budget is very tight. I am pleased that we have great safety forces, but am not pleased that they are stretched to the max with the growth of our community. I am pleased that new families want to live in our community and that speaks volumes about the kind of people who have lived here for years. I am also pleased that this community has allowed me to serve as their voice on city council for the past four years.

Paxton: I think the city is heading in the right direction, but like having driven all night, sometimes you need to change drivers. I think it is time for some folks to slide into the passenger seat.

Riggle: I am very pleased and proud of Delaware in all aspects. I believe downtown Delaware storefronts will be full again soon.

Wheeler: Overall, I have to be pleased with how Delaware has grown residentially, manufacturing, shopping venues, recreation, and the positive attitude of our community. This is not to say that we do not have issues, but we have and will continue in a positive manner.