WARNER ROBINS – Monday night’s forum at City Hall promised fireworks as mayoral candidates gave opening remarks, but in the end it was a civil affair.

Chuck Chalk, Clifford Holmes Jr. and Chuck Shaheen fielded questions from a panel of journalists and each other in front of about 80 people in the City Council chambers.

WNNG News Radio and The Warner Robins Patriot sponsored the forum. Also at the event were city council candidates for Post 1, 3 and 5.

Chalk, in his opening remarks, quizzed Shaheen about remarks he had made concerning the number of jobs from G-RAMP, whether a bypass would alleviate traffic on Watson Boulevard but hurt small businesses there, and whether senior citizens could function as greeters at City Hall.

“Is this his introductory?” asked Shaheen, apparently taken off-guard.

But after that sort-of confrontation the forum proceeded in a business-like manner.

Joe Bishop, WNNG news director, asked the trio if a situation arose where what’s best for the city would be against what residents want, would the candidates rely on their judgment or go with residents’ wishes.

Shaheen said his business experience has taught him that being successful didn’t mean he would always have his way.

Holmes said his experience as mayor pro tempore and 70 days as acting mayor showed him communication between the council and mayor is a win-win situation.

Chalk said he has made tough decisions in the past, but he knows ‘I don’t have the only right answer.’

On the issue of G-RAMP, reporter Gene Rector asked the men where would the money for it come from, and would they adopt a “build it and they will come” approach.

Chalk said the project is losing momentum, and he would not like to see a $17 million burden on taxpayers’ backs. The city should seek state and federal funds, he continued, and use a business-based analysis of the project. “Sometimes you can build it and they won’t come,” he said.

Shaheen said productivity at Robins Air Force Base is the key, and he stressed building relationships with all parties involved. “The Air Force is a business and they have to know Warner Robins will help keep the base open and viable,” he said.

He went on to say if elected, he would set a 100-day limit to get other local governments involved have finances on a firm footing.

Holmes said there “was no other way” for G-RAMP than a public-private partnership. Jobs would come on an as-needed basis, he said, but he did not want an undue burden on city residents. “The bottom line is that we don’t tax the generations to come for this,” he said. He agreed with Shaheen that getting other local governments involved is crucial.

Then candidates got a chance to directly question each other. The anticipated disagreements didn’t materialize as they quizzed each other on the experience they brought to the table.

Shaheen, responding to Holmes’ question, said he shadowed former Mayor Donald Walker for a day four years ago and got a feel for the job before adding in a jab to Holmes that the city never had a mayor who had been a council member first.

Chalk said his 23 years supervisory experience in the Air Force, and helping others further their careers, gave him a foundation in leadership skills and knowledge.

In answer to Chalk’s question about managing a budget and dealing with personnel, Shaheen took a jab at Chalk by saying he started a business in Hawkinsville in the early 1980s from the ground up when “you were not living here then,” and said customer service was key. “It’s how you treat people, how welcome you make them feel,” he said.

Holmes drew on his education experience as a teacher and administrator, saying his efforts in 1999 to help open the Houston County Career and Technology Center on Corder Road saved many students from dropping out. “I was known as ‘Deep Pockets But Stingy,’ and I got the most out of the dollars I had to operate,” he said.

Shaheen’s question was about customer service, asking the others how did they handle the task.

Holmes again talked of his education experience, saying he successfully helped the state Department of Education for two years get its message to 79 counties. “I believe in customer service,” he said.