Last night's City Council Forum for Candidates in the 39th district had a decidedly more laid back vibe than the  Dazzle Me Forum in Carroll Gardens.

The mood between the candidates in the auditorium at John Jay High School was convivial and even goofy as they answered questions from Ken Freeman, President of the Park Slope Civic Council. He also read lengthy questions from audience members written on file cards.

This is a smart, articulate, thoughtful and impressive group of candidates. They've got a few of these candidate's forums under their collective belts and they're relaxed, friendly and very respectful of one another.

The Dazzle Me Forum, held in a small room at the Carrol Gardens branch of the Public Library, was well attended and intense. A neighborhood in transition, Carroll Gardens activists have been trying to down-zone the neighborhood, address affordable housing issues, and fight real estate developers who have run wild for years.  Add in the Gowanus Superfund controversy and people are very much on edge.

That forum had real fire and passion.

I was hoping for some of that fire and passion in Park Slope. But the rain and general apathy about this election didn't inspire many Park Slopers to come out to see the candidates on parade.

And it's not like Park Slope isn't facing hot button issues: it's the worst
economic crisis in decades; local schools are over-crowded; traffic and
parking are a disaster; local businesses are suffering and on the verge of going
under; Fourth Avenue is a run-a-way development zone lacking the infrastructure or classroom space to support it; the mayor and the City Council voted themselves
a third term (a real slap in the face to the democratic process); the nearby Atlantic Yards is the biggest boondoggle in NYC development history.

We got issues. But this event didn't reflect that at all and it was poorly attended.

That said, the candidates put on a decent show and are are evolving and honing their messages.
While most of them are quite similar in terms of their core values, they are very
different in terms of personality and style. Clearly they are having an
influence on one another and it's interesting to see the cross
pollination of viewpoints and ideas.

The event might have had a different feeling if it had been held in a smaller space. The candidates sat on folding chairs on a procenium stage and the audience was spread out in the huge auditorium. Also the moderator didn't take questions from the audience so there wasn't that feeling of give and take.

I will say this: the event was well run and well paced. It started on time and ended, to the minute, when it was supposed to end. Not like that 3-hour marathon in Carroll Gardens.

More on the candidates in another post.