In a city where growth seems boundless, eight City Council candidates sparred Monday night over the level of priority given to address offshoots of growth, from crime to gentrification.

Orlando is a city that has boomed for most of the 21st century and where incumbents, riding a growing economy, rarely lose.

So District 1 Commissioner Jim Gray, District 3 Commissioner Robert Stuart, and District 5 Commissioner Regina Hill had the luxury in a candidates forum Monday of talking about an economy that, despite COVID-19, continues to spur new development, new parks, transportation, and public safety improvements, an increasingly sustainable and green reputation, and the emergence of live-work-play communities like Lake Nona.

"That's what gives us hope, because people recognized that's where yo want to be, that's where you want to raise your family, and that's where you want to work," Gray said of the booming areas of District 1 on Orlando's southeasts side.

The city's progress led some of the challengers to sometimes endorse programs already in place, just insisting they needed to be more of priorities.

But the City Beautiful's prosperity, shaken by the pandemic, has shown weaknesses. So District 1 challengers Bill Moore and Sunshine Grund, District 3 challengers Nicolette Springer and Samuel Chambers, and District 5 challenger Shaniqua "Shan" Rose took their best shots on crime, pedestrian safety, affordable housing, gentrification, inclusion — and personal matters.

The incumbents shot back.

The "Vote Fest" forum was held at The Hope Church of Orlando, sponsored by the Central Florida Vote Fest Coalition, led by the Equal Ground Education Fund.

Gloves came off early as Moore, a retired Orlando police officer, attacked Gray, a commercial real estate executive seeking a third full term. Moore accused Gray of having too many conflicts of interest with developers.

"We have to have representation from a commissioner that does not conflict out on votes," Moore said.

Gray turned the tables later on a question about police and crime, pointing out that the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Gray, not Moore the former officer.

Still, Gray appeared to stumble on another question about whether policing and incarceration are the best answers to crime. He said that the issue in District 1, with all the new residents moving in, "isn't the number of police. It's knowing our neighbors — who belongs and who doesn't belong."

Grund groaned.

That forced Gray to try to restate his notion. "Sunshine, when you have construction workers coming into a neighborhood, neighbors don't know whether they're there to fix something ... or are they doing something they shouldn't be doing. That's what I meant by that."

Gray's concession that Orlando does not have enough police so neighborhoods need to do their part to watch out for one another opened the door to Moore.

More police and more fire fighters are his top campaign planks.

"Where there are violent felonies occurring, Commissioner Gray just said we don't have enough police. I've got the graph right here. We are behind. When growth is expanding by 24 percent, according to the census data, and we have growth in officers below that level, as well as firefighters, we have a problem," Moore said.

Then, as Hill discussed her efforts to bring affordable housing to the inner city neighborhoods of District 5, on Orlando's west side, and turned it on her opponent, Rose, a non-profit executive who used to work for the city.

"We need affordable housing and single-family housing. Of course, Miss Rose got the first home that I built in the Parramore with the 17 infill homes that we had. She worked at the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) and she went to the front of the line," Hill said. "We cannot be bamboozled by rhetoric. And I think that's very concerning: Someone wanting to be a commissioner but putting themselves first."

Rose, who stressed her master's degree in public administration, hit back.

"Yes, I did get a home in Parramore. But it was to be with the people, for the people, and to join the people, to address their concerns. We have a lot of issues. I was a city employee and I watched. We did not have a plan," Rose said. "We kept bringing in consultants and spending taxpayers' dollars to bring in these plans that failed."

The three candidates in District 3 found less to debate, except for the notion of whether Stuart, who's running for a fifth term, needs to be replaced with someone with new ideas, or with commitment to progressive platforms.

Chambers in particular pushed his youth and vowed he would bring modern, progressive ideas to the city commission.

District 3 is on Orlando's north side, with more of the city's progressive Democratic base.

Stuart pressed his experience, particularly getting through the recession of the 2010s. He noted that he's seen projects such as planned reconstruction of two major community arteries, Edgewater Drive and the Virginia Drive-Corrine Drive corridor from the start and wants to seem the through to completion.

"There's just some unfinished business. This is my town," Stuart said.

At one point Springer, a lobbyist for the League of Women Voters of Florida tried to pin the controversial RoseArts District plan on Stuart. RoseArts is a fairly-high density community redevelopment plan for Orlando's upper west side. Though the Orlando City Council approved it in July, Stuart voted against it, saying the established adjacent Rosemont neighborhood opposed it, and there had not been enough compromise.

Springer accused him of initially favoring RoseArts, which Stuart strongly disputed. She received boos from the Stuart contingent in the audience, but she persevered. "That is true. I've spoken many of the residents who said you were not on their side."

That led Springer to jump on the affordable housing issue, one of Orlando's sorest points.

"The commissioner said there is affordable House. That's not true. It is not affordable housing," she said of developers' pledges to set aside some of the housing for lower income. "It is attainable housing, which is not equal to affordable housing. There's no teeth to hold the developer. ... We need to make sure that if we're going to require developers to have affordable housing that we actually have the ability in our codes to hold them enforceable. We don't have that right now."