Six candidates in three local elections answered questions about the economy and other student interests Tuesday in what will likely be the only public meeting of the candidates prior to Nov. 4.

There are a pair of contested races for the Mankato City Council — for council president and Ward 4 representative — as well as one for the 3rd District of the Blue Earth County Board.

Chris Frederick is challenging incumbent Mike Laven for council president, Jason Mattick is running against incumbent Charlie Hurd for the ward spot and Mark Piepho is seeking to replace Katy Wortel on the County Board.

The Minnesota State University forum, co-sponsored by the Minnesota State Student Senate and Southern Minnesota Advocates, put the same questions to each candidate — all of whom have a degree from the university.

The first: “What do you feel is the community’s most pressing issue and how would you address it if elected,” drew several responses about the economy. The county’s role in economic development is limited, though.

Hurd said he’d prefer to see the city levy rise no faster than inflation, given concerns about the economy.

“Yet, we’re in a business that a lot of it (the cost) is employees and their health costs go up at a rate much higher than that (inflation).”

“We’re kind of caught between a rock and a hard place,” Hurd said.

Laven had an analogy different from the budget hatchet and scalpel references most politicians fall back on.

“You know you’re gonna go to that wedding in a few months and you wanna lose that five or 10 pounds, and how are you gonna do that?” he said.

“We don’t necessarily just want to stop eating,” he said. “Maybe it’s just we plow a little later in the day instead of right as soon as the snow flies.”

Piepho said retaining students after they graduate, job creation, diversification and economic development are important goals.

He also said his experience as a state legislator would be a bonus.

“I know how they think, so hopefully we could put that to work for the county,” he said, to help legislators “realize what they do on the state level has an effect on this level.”

Wortel said there’s an atmosphere of “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” but he gave a more complete answer after a subsequent question about retaining MSU students. Answers to that question focused on creating job opportunities for graduates.