Three-party monte

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Jane Lumm represented the Second Ward as a Republican from 1993 until 1998, when she gave up her seat to run for state representative, only to lose in the primary. Lumm says she's running again because "the city has lost touch with the residents and with what the taxpayers value and are willing to pay for. We have to recalibrate our spending priorities. We have to provide basic services, and public safety should be job one. And since councilmember Rapundalo took office, it's been straight cuts for police and fire."

Asked why she's no longer a Republican, Lumm, fifty-eight, replies, "Look what's happened to the Republican Party. It's moved to the right of me. I'm fiscally conservative but socially progressive."

Stephen Rapundalo, fifty-three, says he's no fan of cutting safety services. "But we have to balance the budget, and the unions have been pretty stubborn about making concessions. I don't want to see any more cuts." He's no fan of Lumm's either. "When she was on council, the fund balance fell--in boom times--and the infrastructure crumbled." Lumm disputes that, pointing out that the fund balance more than doubled during her three terms in office.