Saying they came to last week’s mayoral forum with open minds, West Roxbury residents Mary Kercz and Sharon Foley were glad they listened to the candidates’ pitches.

“It gives you something to think about,” said Kercz.

Three of the four mayoral candidates who will face off Sept. 26 for two spots on the Nov. 7 municipal election ballot spoke at the event that was co-sponsored by Progressive West Roxbury/Roslindale, the West Roxbury Transcript, Roslindale Transcript and several other civic organizations.

Robert Cappucci, Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson and Joseph A. Wiley each had a turn to describe their visions for Boston to the large audience that filled West Roxbury’s St. John Chrysostom Church hall as well as answer questions.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh “had to decline the invitation to attend the West Roxbury/Roslindale Progressives forum due to a prior commitment with the Boston Neighborhood Network,” according to his campaign press secretary, Gabrielle Farrell.

When Progressives member Rachel Poliner told the audience Walsh was neither coming nor sending a representative, many loud groans echoed through the room. After the meeting, Foley said she was not surprised Walsh didn’t attend and felt it was not respectful.

Housing

All three candidates in attendance rued the lack of affordable housing in the city.

Navy veteran Robert Cappucci said he wanted to place a moratorium on real estate development in the city.

He said some developers gave presentations on their proposals that were just “dog and pony show[s]” since they often wait until receiving city approvals before meeting with the community to get input.

He also said several times he would be sure to communicate with President Donald Trump’s administration to get federal dollars and wouldn’t take money from the middle class to build affordable housing.

Jackson, who received the most enthusiastic responses throughout the evening said, “It’s time that we take back our city. Our city is being sold to the highest bidder.”

He recalled growing up in Boston with a backyard and that now, to own a home in the city, “is a fleeting dream.”

Wiley tied in the lack of affordable housing to the lack of income equality.

Citing “skyrocketing” rents in once affordable neighborhoods, he said in the near future, nobody making less than $100,000 will be able to live in Boston.

Environment

Jackson was the only candidate to specifically mention a project in the Parkway, lamenting Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral gas pipeline that runs next to the only quarry in the city.

“We … need to stand up against pipelines like you have done in West Roxbury,” he said, adding he wants to be sure a safety plan is in place should there be an explosion.

Three other ideas Jackson mentioned were getting locally sourced foods for the Boston Public Schools, connecting North and South stations and getting rid of plastic bags.

Cappucci tied improving the environment to streamlining the Boston Public Schools’ use of hundreds of buses.

“We have a problem with 600 buses leaving fumes in our city,” he said.

Wiley tied improving the environment with improving public transportation in the city.

“That’s a pet peeve,” he said, adding he has never owned a car and started taking public transportation at age 9.

Although the mayor can’t directly change much on the T, Wiley said he would remain a strong advocate for better transportation.

Audience members laughed as he joked about the terrible heat inside T stations during the summer but he became somber when asking, “Why do we put up with this? … We need to stand up.”

Schools

All three candidates were passionate – and upset – about the state of the Boston Public Schools.

Wiley lived through “the horror that really was (the 1970s Boston busing) period.”

As mayor he said, “Education has to be in the forefront” of the city’s efforts to improve the lives of its residents.

During his turn to speak, Jackson immediately criticized Walsh, saying he “turned his back on the Boston Public Schools as soon as he got into office.”

Jackson said the city must invest in vocational education and make sure all children have good school options close to their homes.

In addition, he said, “We should have an elected school committee,” including two youth members.

Cappucci, a former Boston School Committee member who was elected to the position rather than appointed, said he now believes that members should be appointed.

From his firsthand experience at the schools as a substitute teacher for six years, he said, “I don’t want main-streaming anymore.”

He said he wants students who need extra help to get it and place “the unruly students” in separate learning environments.

Immigration and racism

In order to combat racism, “first, we have to admit that racism still exists,” said Jackson.

Citing his support of making Boston a “sanctuary city,” he noted the resolution he put forward in support of Syrian refugees. He added that he believes that all Boston Public Schools should be sanctuaries, that there should be an immigrant legal defense fund and that city police officers shouldn’t report undocumented immigrants to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Cappucci, a former Boston Police officer, had a different point of view.

He said if an officer has pulled over someone who is an undocumented immigrant, “We should notify ICE.”

Although he said he does not think Boston should be sanctuary city because he wants to receive federal funds, he said, “I would not go after God’s children on a witch hunt.”

Wiley commended Mayor Walsh for protecting immigrants.

He said during his time as an ESL teaching volunteer at the Boston Public Library’s Copley Square branch, he knew some of his students didn’t have the proper documentation.

“I know the palpable fear that many of them feel,” he said, adding he would not want the Boston Police to be part of “some sort of roundup” of undocumented immigrants.

To find out more about the upcoming preliminary municipal election on Sept. 26, visit https://www.boston.gov/departments/elections.