In his closing remarks at last night's all-candidates forum, Blackfalds mayoral candidate Gary Smith said there were two "camps" voters must choose between in the upcoming municipal election: those who look to the future and those in the past.

He followed that assertion by pointing out there are four candidates seeking re-election with a combined 73 years of experience on council, a statement that the roughtly 150 people in attendance applauded.

In his closing statement, Coun. Will Taylor, one of those four incumbents, rebuked Smith, saying "a divided camp can devastate a community." The two then sparred over how much Smith's tax bill increased by.

Offering a response to Taylor, Smith dismissed the notion that his remarks were divisive.

"It's about people with opinions who are willing to voice their opinions. I would actually consider it an asset because that's the exact kind of passion I'm going to bring when we're fighting for schools ... when we're fighting for roads and bridges and all those things that everybody talked about they want," Smith said.

"Hey, I'm glad that people saw that I got a little fire inside of me. That's what I'm going to bring to the table for this town. That's the kind of passion and fire I have and I will bring to this job if I happen to get elected for mayor."

Speaking to Sunny 94 afterward, Taylor opted to weigh in on the mayoral campaign, endorsing Smith's opponent, Richard Poole.

Smith is not campaigning on any past political experience. During the forum, he repeated a few priorities: downtown revitalization, attracting investment from high-tech firms and implementing smart city technology in town.

As well, seeking public-private partnerships to build a medical facility in Blackfalds and curbing low-density development.

It's a message he said does not resonate with the public. Some of the issues discussed last night included resident concerns like municipal services, spurring commercial development and bringing a high school to town.

But Smith stuck with it because in his view, it's where municipalities are going.

"It's not the granular my-piece-of-the-pie stuff people want to talk about. They want to talk about safety, they want to talk about crosswalks, they want to talk about schools. But to have that long-term vision is intertwined implicitly with technology," he said.

"Even if it doesn't resonate, it's not popular and it's not great and it doesn't make the news, it's still the way I perceive the future for all communities, not just Blackfalds."

Poole, who has served on council for 19 years, said the right candidate for mayor must be able to work with other political leaders due to provincially-mandated inter-municipal collaboration. He said his experience on regional boards will help.

On the issue of schools, Poole said the last council has worked with Wolf Creek School Division to prioritize elementary school modernization and the high school project.

Another partner that the mayor must work with, is the community itself, he said.

"They want to know that the taxes they are spending, is being done responsibly. They want to have a say in how to make the community a better place," he said.

"They want to know when council sits down, it will work well together and it will work positively to make our community an even better place."

Poole said the next council needs to continue acting on the town's Municipal Sustainability Plan, a document that guides community building, encompassing community life, the economy, infrastructure, leadership and the environment.