SANFORD -- The four people who want to become Sanford's next mayor are worried about the city's future.

Dean Ray wants more cops on the streets. Ron Fraser thinks there is poor communication between the city and its residents. Linda Kuhn worries about a lack of a grand plan, and Whitey Eckstein says a leadership void has allowed divisiveness and special interests to flourish.

They all agree on one thing: Something has to be done soon or Sanford could miss its best opportunity in decades to break out of its small-town cocoon and emerge as potentially one of Central Florida's premier cities.

For Ray, a used-appliance store owner who is making his second run at the mayor's post and his seventh bid for office since 1996, everything revolves around public safety. If elected, he wants to expand the police presence by pulling the 10 school-resource officers out of the classroom and putting them back on the beat. The school district would have to hire its own security, he said. He would also leave the city's airport, Orlando Sanford International, to provide its own security and put those six officers on city streets.

The city could come up with some money to pay the school officers -- the school district currently pays only half their salaries -- with money that would be saved by paying less overtime, he said.

"There are five to 12 officers working overtime on any given day," he said.

The city's Police Department has improved greatly in recent years and Sanford is safer, he said, but there need to be more Neighborhood Watch programs and a greater police presence in troubled areas.

Fraser's concerns are less about concrete issues than the relationship between the city and its residents.

"There has been a lot of turmoil in Sanford, and the biggest reason we have that turmoil is the lack of communication between the people and the city," he said.

Too often, plans are made and projects move forwardwithout input from the community. Plans for a children's play fort at Fort Mellon Park -- the pet project of Mayor Brady Lessard -- had little or no public input, Fraser said.

"The way it was done, the public was not allowed to participate in its design or location," he said. "I hope it's a huge success, but the public should have been allowed to participate."

Fraser's criticism of the fort stems from his desire make Fort Mellon Park, which is along Lake Monroe, a lush focal point for downtown Sanford. Open green space along the water has worked for community parks from Chicago to Tempe, Ariz., he said.

"The water is the No. 1 feature of Fort Mellon Park," he said. "The park should be a showcase."

Kuhn, a former state attorney's victims advocate, compared Sanford's permissive attitude about development and growth with abuse victims who settle for the first thing that comes along because it's better than what they had before.

"Sanford leaders have seemed to accept second best because they feared no one would come," she said. "Sanford needs to learn to say no. If they want to be here, they should be willing to do it right."

That's why the city must have a master plan -- a grand vision -- for what it wants to be, then stick to it, she said. Kuhn's push for higher standards applies to everything from landscaping and beautification along U.S. Highway 17-92 to development along State Road 46 and downtown. The city also should push back when necessary.

"Sanford needs to stand up and not take the beatings," she said.

Eckstein, who served 16 years on the City Commission until 2001, jumped into the race despite health problems because, he said, Sanford and its elected leaders have become polarized. Eckstein, who is on a list to receive a kidney and goes to dialysis three times a week, said his medical condition will not hold him back.

"The Sanford City Commission needs to work in unison to achieve what's best for the city and not serve an agenda developed by special interests," he said.

Despite criticism from some who said the city was giving in to developer demands, it was a united commission working for a greater good that led to Seminole Towne Center mall being approved in the 1990s, Eckstein said.

"I will fight for what I think is right, and my support of the mall shows I will fight the tough fight," he said.

Like Fraser, Eckstein wants Fort Mellon Park to be downtown's major draw.

"I'd like to see it developed into a botanical gardens with flowers and gardens," he said. "Not what it's being used for now. It needs to be a place where people can go and enjoy the beauty of it."

The candidates support additional condominium and town-house development downtown, and generally agree on the need for stronger development guidelines. Eckstein said he could support grants or low-interest loans to help convert second- and third-story space in older buildings into apartments. He said he also would work to change fire codes that currently make such conversions too costly.

Kuhn said development guidelines should limit building heights downtown and along the waterfront to two or three stories. And if the city ever builds a parking garage downtown, it needs to charge for parking. Fraser agrees the city needs to guide downtown development and protect downtown's identity.

The candidates agreed that new headquarters are needed for police and fire departments. They support the commission's move to set aside $2 million to start a building fund.

Each candidate wants more marketing for the city, with Ray suggesting the city begin add $1 to the landing fees at the airport and ticket fees on the AutoTrain and use the money to promote the city.

All the candidates agreed that the city must do a better job of overseeing the Sanford Housing Authority when federal administrators turn it back to the city. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took over the housing authority two years ago after years of neglect and poor management at the six low-income housing projects.

The candidates are split on the future of City Manager Al Grieshaber. A split City Commission voted earlier this month not to renew Grieshaber's employment contract, which runs until August. Kuhn and Ray said they would not support new contract negotiations with Grieshaber, but they differed on why. Kuhn said Grieshaber is not the right man for the job, while Ray said he wants to move on and not further the controversy.

Fraser and Eckstein said they would consider a new contract, but not until they've had an opportunity to work with Grieshaber.

In another city race, for Commission District 1, Bernard Mitchell had been unable to meet with the Orlando Sentinel for an earlier article. Mitchell is running against Hank Dieckhaus, Lindsay Oyewale, Vance Taylor and incumbent Art Woodruff.

Last week, Mitchell said he thinks public safety is the most important issue for the city and for residents in the district, which includes downtown, the historic district, Georgetown and the Mellonville area.

"Even though the public safety has improved, we still have a lot of prostitution, gambling and drugs in District 1."

Mitchell said he's also concerned about the age of some of the fire department equipment.

If elected, he said, he would work to improve salaries for police and firefighters to keep them in Sanford, and would create an employee committee to bring concerns to the city manager and City Commission. He did not have specific ideas for raising city revenue to help pay for higher wages.

Mitchell wants the city to get tougher on code enforcement and thinks the answer may be more employees. He, like Dieckhaus, wants the city to issue more code-enforcement fines.

Downtown development is on the right track, he said, but more needs to be done to attract business downtown. He would support incentives or grants to do so. The city also must focus on improving older infrastructure -- storm water, sewers, roads -- in the district, he said.

City voters go to the polls March 8. Early voting, which began Feb. 20, continues through March 7.