City council candidate Cindy Clark, challenging Warner for his District 2 seat, said mass transit is a fascinating and necessary prospect.

"It's kind of exciting to me when I look around and see what is possible with light rail and mass transit," Clark said. "It's such a viable thing to have a freeway system, but right now it isn't functioning properly in our valley and the state has been moving slowly on it."

When candidates were asked about expanding Provo's park system, the responses primarily centered on finances.

Former mayor George Stewart, seeking the at-large seat on the City Council, said he would like to add more green space but cautioned that the city must stick to a tight budget.

"I just can't see going into more debt for a recreation center," Stewart said. "There's needs, wants and desires, and we need to take care of the needs. I think it's foolish to have more debt."

Stewart's opponent Mark Sumison agreed that the city needs to take a fiscally conservative approach but said increasing park space was a big concern among residents in an informal poll he conducted prior to declaring his candidacy.

"But I want to listen to what the constituency says, and they're asking why we can't keep up (with neighboring cities) on park space," he said.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com