CARY - District A candidates Jennifer Robinson and Lori Bush went head to head over citizen questions regarding fiscal management, land preservation and revitalization efforts in downtown.

Robinson, the 10-year Republican incumbent, and Bush, the Democratic challenger, participated in a forum sponsored by the town and the N.C. Center for Voter Education. It was the last chance for both sides to draw clear lines of separation between their campaigns in advance of the Nov. 3 runoff.

For Republican Jennifer Robinson, a win would mean a third term representing western Cary. Although municipal elections in Cary are officially non-partisan, a Robinson victory would leave the seven-member Town Council with four Democrats and three Republicans. It would represent a town that is almost evenly split among parties.

A second-chance win for Bush, who trailed Robinson in the Oct. 6 election, would be a boon to proponents of slower growth measures. Bush's showing at the polls, where she received 42.3 percent of the vote, could be attributed largely to an endorsement of her campaign by DavisandHighHouse.org, which has fought against development at the intersection of Davis Drive and High House Road.

The organization, which has been critical of development at the intersection from which it draws its name, is widely credited with helping Mayor Harold Weinbrecht unseat Ernie McAlister in 2007.

The group was among several topics at the forum. Here are some highlights:

On managing Cary's budget: Robinson touted her penchant for tracking Cary's monthly budget data and the progress of the town's capital projects.

She said she would focus on "adopting budgets that impose the lowest taxes possible." Robinson also promised to maintain a cap on debt in order to preserve the town's bond rating and to reserve four months worth of cash -- four times the state mandated one-month cash reserve required of municipalities.

She added that it was important to reprioritize the budget "so that the critical needs that have been expressed by citizens can be met by taking dollars out of projects that are less important and moving them over."

Bush said maintaining Cary's AAA bond rating is a high priority and she noted her desire to hold Cary's property tax rate at its current rate.

She criticized Robinson for stretching the town's budget thin during her tenure on the Town Council. She charged that "challenges the council will face in the future are due, in fact, to much of the growth and the reduction in impact fees that originally the developers paid for."

On revitalizing downtown: Bush and Robinson agreed on at least two things regarding Cary's efforts to breathe new life into its downtown: Downtown residents feel left out of Cary's revitalization program. And addressing persistent problems with storm water runoff in downtown should rank among the highest priorities in revitalization plans.

Bush said Cary should promote a "shop local initiative" that would draw both residents and business owners to that district.

Robinson said Cary should hire a downtown manager, who "would help us understand what kind of tax relief programs or incentives would actually bring businesses downtown and help us approach that professionally and successfully," she said.

On protecting "green space": Robinson said she has done a lot to promote environmental initiatives. She cited as examples initiatives she said she spearheaded, such as "tree preservation laws that make it harder for developers to take down trees."

She said she also initiated the idea of land banking, an idea where a town purchases land to be used for future development of parks or other open spaces.

If re-elected, Robinson said she would continue her support of establishing stricter land-use rules near Jordan Lake to protect one of the Triangle's key water sources from encroaching development. She said she would also stand behind Cary's tiered water rates and would defend laws governing natural buffer zones between non-residential developments and neighborhoods or roadways.

Bush said a key component of protecting the environment in Cary would be to "stop the spread of subdivisions and strip malls." She said residents living west of N.C. 55 "implored me" to halt what they perceived as overdevelopment. Bush also said Cary should tighten regulations on clear-cutting of trees.

"The corner of Davis Drive and High House ... is right now a moonscape and may remain one for quite a long period of time," she said. "We need to continue our stringent land ordinances to protect against that."