Students working on the campaigns of Urbana mayoral candidates Tod Satterthwaite and Laurel Prussing said they were impressed by their candidates’ performance at a forum on Tuesday night.

The forum featured incumbent Tod Satterthwaite; Laurel Prussing, a former state representative, Champaign County auditor and board member; and Shirley Hursey, a former Urbana Human Relations Commission member.

Justin Cajindos, sophomore in LAS and a volunteer for Satterthwaite’s campaign, said the mayor effectively highlighted his record on economic development.

“I was struck by how negative Prussing and Hursey were,” he said.

Cajindos said Satterthwaite had an established record while his challengers could only offer promises.

Tarah Williams, freshman in FAA, said Prussing demonstrated the negative work environment Satterthwaite created on the Urbana City Council, noting that six elected Democrats in the city have endorsed Prussing.

Hursey has not had any students work on her campaign, but she thought she did well at the forum.

During the debate, each candidate said they wanted to bring more business to Urbana to expand the tax base to provide more city services. However, Hursey and Prussing disputed Satterthwaite’s effectiveness in doing so.

Satterthwaite said he had a successful record of attracting businesses to the area, noting several recent development deals, including two at the Five Points intersection in Urbana on northern Cunningham Avenue, which he called the “gateway to the city.”

The development he brought to the city also helped raise revenues for the Park and School Districts and allowed him to balance the city’s budget without firing city workers or raising taxes, he said.

Hursey and Prussing charged that Satterthwaite was too passive when Philo Road businesses, including a Kmart, grocery store and drug store, began to close.

The city approved a plan for the business district on Feb. 7; however, Prussing accused Satterthwaite of waiting until the election to address the problem.

“It was the mayor’s responsibility to respond when the problem was developing,” Prussing said.

Satterthwaite said the plan required several months to complete and most of the closings were recent.

Hursey said she would try to attract small businesses to the downtown and Philo Road areas.

Hursey and Prussing said Satterthwaite works poorly with the Urbana City Council and has yelled at people during disagreements.

“It’s very unusual to have a Democratic primary when there’s an incumbent Democratic mayor,” Prussing said. She said many people asked her to run for mayor because of Satterthwaite’s temper.

“I would bring the ability to have a civil discourse instead of the kind of acrimony that has gone on that has alienated the City Council,” Prussing said.

Hursey agreed.

“We need to be more courteous to each other and we need to treat each other with civility,” Hursey said.

Satterthwaite called the charges “politically motivated.”

“People have different ideas and views politically and they’re going to come to a fore, that’s what politics are about,” Satterthwaite said.

He said even though some council members are supporting Prussing in the primary, he has worked with the city council to pass most measures unanimously.

Prussing cited a library renovation budget battle as an example of Satterthwaite’s problems with the City Council.

Satterthwaite altered a previous proposal for the Urbana Free Library’s expansion without telling members of the Library Board or City Council, Prussing said. Satterthwaite said the changes were necessary to keep the project closer to the original cost.

“That is deception and that is not the way you work with people,” Prussing said.

Esther Patt, an alderwoman and Prussing’s campaign chair, asked why Satterthwaite was not honest about his library record during a call-in portion of the forum.

Satterthwaite accused Prussing and Patt of trying to distort his record. He said although he had pushed for a project that cost less than the one the City Council ultimately approved, he supported an expansion since taking office and helped acquire state money for the program.

Cajindos said Patt’s call was the most exciting moment of the forum.

“Esther Patt tried to call in and act like she was a regular citizen. It shows that these attacks are politically motivated,” he said.

Patt, who has supported Satterthwaite in previous campaigns, responded to the criticism.

“Tod (Satterthwaite) calls all criticism of him politically motivated. The reason people are supporting Laurel is because of the things he has done,” she said.

“Public-private partnerships don’t work if the public representative lies to the donors,” she said of the library disagreement.