With the retirement of Peter Trent who was mayor of Westmount for 19 years out of the past 26, three candidates are fighting to lead the city on the slope of Mount Royal.

Christina Smith is a former councillor who was acclaimed as interim mayor in April; Patrick Martin is a councillor who has been the city's public works commissioner for 12 years; Beryl Wajsman is a newspaper editor and publisher who has a long history of working for the federal Liberal party.

Wajsman has a pro-car viewpoint and said he would create more parking spaces and do away with the handful of Bixi stations in the city.

"If I make the roads a priority we're not going to do refraction on the corners of the sidewalks this year, we might do them next year. We're going to fix the fissures in the roads first," said Wajsman.

He is also promising to support local merchants by using revenue from new developments.

"Every cent of new revenue, after what has to be paid to the agglo, will be distributed to tax reduction on a two-thirds-one-third basis between the residents and the commercial citizens of Westmount.

Smith, who has been running the city since April, wants to improve bike paths and prioritize city programs.

"We've almost doubled what we've spent on infrastructure totally in the budget and I will continue that pace. Do I think sidewalks are important? Absolutely, that's a livable, walkable city, I think they should be wider in a lot of places," said Smith.

She plans to continue leading a cohesive team, and make improvements in how the city handles permits for renovations and construction.

"I can build consensus, I listen to people and then I make decisive action and so I will continue to do that," said Smith.

Martin, who oversaw the construction of the city's arena complex, said his opponents do not have a long-term plan.

"What struck me is the lack of forward vision of the town, the lack of planning. We should have a 20 year plan of what we should do for our infrastructure," said Martin.

He also wants to modernize the permit system, and help local businesses.

"With all the taxes they pay we don't even offer the merchants the same recycling we offer to homeowners who pay far less tax per mill rate," said Martin.

Municipal elections take place Nov. 5.