The two Lawrence City Commission candidates aligned with the smart growth-oriented Progressive Lawrence Campaign tried to convince voters at a forum Wednesday that their voices are needed to keep city government balanced.

“I thought (two years ago) Lawrence was moving in a direction of favoring people who make money on the creation of housing instead of the folks like us who pay the bills,” said City Commissioner David Schauner, a two-year incumbent who finished third in the March 1 primary. “I thought we needed to restore the balance.”

Jim Carpenter, who, like Schauner, has been supported by the Progressive Lawrence Campaign, said city government had taken a turn for the better after Progressive Lawrence candidates swept the city elections two years ago.

“We do have a wider range of voices that are being heard,” said Carpenter, who finished fifth in the March 1 primary. “We have more segments of the community that are being heard, and I want to see that continue.”

Tom Bracciano, the fourth-place finisher in the primary, said he thought there had been too much emphasis on dividing the community into different sides.

“I am running to try to bring us back together as one city,” Bracciano said. “I would like to leave our political ideologies at the door so we can work together.”

Incumbent Sue Hack, who finished second in the primary, urged voters to look at her record to determine whether she had favored one part of the community over another.

“I’m sure you will find things you agree with me on and things you disagree with me on, but that is how it works being on the City Commission,” Hack said. “I think I bring balance to this commission. I did not come to the commission with an agenda.”

The forum, which drew a crowd of about 100 people to the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt., was sponsored by the Voter Education Coalition. A similar forum will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Dole Institute of Politics.

The top three vote winners in the April 5 general election will receive seats on the commission.