CORINTH — Candidates sparred at a forum Tuesday night over the city’s inability to grow its commercial sector, slumping revenues and poor communication with residents — and watched as police escorted one resident from the meeting room.

The forum was sponsored by the Friends of the Lake Cities Library and moderated by Linnie McAdams of the League of Women Voters. Organizers solicited written questions from the audience and asked the mayoral and Place 2 City Council candidates to answer many of them.

The forum lasted more than two hours, with the mayoral candidates taking questions in the first hour and the council candidates in the second.

Organizers twice had to take time out to explain the format to the audience. Although the format was explained at the beginning of the meeting, the organizers explained it again after resident Sim Portnoy, a frequent critic of city leaders, interrupted near the end of the first hour.

Portnoy got up and asked the organizers several times why they had not read his questions to the candidates. They told Portnoy that his questions came late, were too long and were directed at only one candidate. After a few minutes of Portnoy’s protests, Corinth police escorted him out of the room.

Political newcomer and Place 2 candidate Sherry Schneider said she could understand why residents sometimes felt that they weren’t being listened to, saying she’d experienced it first-hand.

“In the past, you’re typically told, ‘That’s not what we handle,’” Schneider said, adding that she would guide people, in addition to calling those who brought their concerns to the council during the citizen’s forum.

When it was incumbent Jim Mayfield’s turn, he explained that sometimes residents call about problems that are one person’s alone and don’t represent a citywide interest. But, he said, he could do better.

“I tackle problems with a steady, logical approach, and I will work on communicating better,” Mayfield said.

Schneider said the city could do more to make it easy for businesses to open in Corinth.

“I heard from one that it took five years to get approval; another took two and a half,” Schneider said. She and her ex-husband opted to open their business in another city.

Mayfield said that the city could do more to attract jobs, suggesting that — with the local boom in hospital construction — medical equipment manufacturing might find a home in Corinth’s industrial park.

“I was disappointed when Boeing left, but we could still have light manufacturing here,” Mayfield said.

The two mayoral candidates, Shannon Bryan and Paul Ruggiere, disagreed about whether the city was ready for commercial development.

Ruggiere said that, while he served on the city’s economic development corporation, he learned that much of the city’s commercial land isn’t ready for development.

“But it’s important that we attract certain businesses to spur others,” Ruggiere said. “Certain types of businesses can really get things moving.”

Bryan disagreed, saying that the city’s problems in recruiting new businesses stem not from infrastructure problems, but from a history of infighting and lack of leadership.

“We have to have a new attitude that says ‘we’re open for business,’” Bryan said. “[As the mayor,] you’re the spokesperson.”

Bryan and Ruggiere currently serve on the council and openly struggled to answer one audience member’s question about their service: What has been the best accomplishment of the City Council so far?

“Wow, I’m really having trouble answering that,” Bryan said at first. But after a brief reflection, she said that she was happy to report that the City Council could still work together to make things happen, despite any road blocks that were put before it.

Ruggiere said that he appreciated being able to answer second and having the time to think about the question.

“I’m most proud about the hospital across the street,” Ruggiere said. “That brought 200 high-paying jobs to our city and this side of the highway.”

After the forum, residents Brenda and Terry Smith said they thought the candidates did well. But Terry Smith described the turnout — about two dozen people — as “pathetic.”

Resident Lisa Clawson, who ran against Mayfield and lost in 2007, said that she was undecided about the candidates before coming to the forum.

As the night progressed, she kept an informal score of their responses, and that helped shape her choices.

“My mind’s made up,” Clawson said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .