In most political races, the candidates know each other to some degree.

For the Auburn city mayor race, all three candidates have worked together for years.

Both David Dempsey and Timothy Lattimore served on Auburn City Council before making their bid for mayor. This is Dempsey's first mayoral race, he is currently a councilor. Lattimore has been mayor for the past four years.

The third candidate, Michael Quill, has decided to circumvent a run for council and go after the mayor's seat.

The retired Auburn Fire Department chief is unhappy about the city's direction and its lack of teamwork. After taking the Democratic nomination through a forced primary, people have told him he can lead the city in a new direction. That, in fact, is why he stepped up to be mayor, Quill said.

His priority is to encourage the mayor and council to work as a unit, rather than the “dysfunctional body” it is now. He recognizes discussion and even disagreements are helpful, but he wants the group to act together.

Also, he wants the employees to have a better atmosphere.

“Morale has got to be at an all-time low. Senior staff is retiring or quitting, or moving on to other things,” Quill said. He himself retired last year after Lattimore blamed him for poor management.

Quill said city officials can establish a team by being honest with each other, acting objectively and not catering to favorites. He points to himself as a team leader in response to questions about possible favoritism towards the fire department.

“When I was fire chief, I was advocate for the fire department. As a supervisor, that was my role, for the fire department and the city. I'm not (going to be) the firefighters' mayor, and I'm (going to be) the city's mayor,” Quill said. “I'm an advocate for anything good for the city.”

Working with the fire department budget - his last year the budget was around $5 million not including employee benefits, he is confident he can work with the city manager to draft and stay within the confines of a budget.

Dempsey points to his experience creating and voting on 16 municipal budgets, eight as a Cayuga County Legislator and eight as a city councilor.

“I take pride in knowing how to keep taxes down and other people don't have that experience. It is ridiculous to think that the residents would turn over the city to someone who hasn't voted (on a budget)... and the other one made questionable decisions over the years,” he added, referring first to Quill and then Lattimore.

Lattimore too has a diverse experience, having served on the city and county planning boards for 10 years in the 1970s before becoming city councilor for a term, and finally mayor in 2004.

He brings a range of assets and skills to the position, he says. Lattimore prides himself not just for his ability, but the time he gives to the office. He always has to time to listen to people, from those who pop their heads in to complain about high property taxes to those who thank him for helping with their fundraisers Most of all, he knows how to network and promote the city, calling himself “the goodwill ambassador of Auburn.”

Two issues he's concentrating on are energy and the loss of young professionals from the central New York.

Exploring alternative energy to lower costs is his campaign's platform. If that issues is resolved, Lattimore foresees increasing economic development and the ability to not raise taxes.

He knows the solution to the rising energy expense isn't an overnight problem, so in the meantime, city crews are fixing potholes, having make over of downtown to help sell the city to relocating or expanding companies.

Lattimore wants to look into combining county and the city economic development departments to make growth more effective.

“We're affected as a region,” he said. “Upstate lost a tremendous amount of industry.”

Lower energy costs would alleviate his other concern, the brain drain. He views education as an investment, and hopes that enough students and young professionals can return to the area.

“It would be nice to have enough (opportunities) that they have the choice to stay in Auburn,” Lattimore said.

Quill too wants to draw people back, possibly playing on Syracuse and Rochester's growth by promoting Auburn to commuters. One thing that needs to be done first is to improve the city's neighborhoods, he said.

He and his wife, Joanie, walked the streets during the petition process and saw spots that need upkeep and care. The city should apply for grants to better those areas, he said..

“The city's done great things for the downtown, but unless they improve the neighborhoods, there won't be anyone to go downtown,” Quill said.

While there's no one cause that Dempsey is watching out for, he wants the city to run well overall. By assisting city hall to run as efficiently as possible, it can get things done for the benefit of the community, such as operating the landfill, keeping taxes down, or involving quality employees and leaders in the process.

“It's not about money or power, it's about your ability to make it better for the community,” Dempsey said.

Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311, ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net