With the primaries behind them, the remaining candidates for Syracuse mayor shift their focus to the general election. Steve Kimatian, Stephanie Miner and Otis Jennings participated in their first three-way forum Thursday. As our Kat De Maria tells us, the conversation focused on small business.

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"One way is to make sure when they need to deal with the city, the city is very responsive. The second way is when they want to start businesses, and there are many entrepreneurs who want start businesses, provide a municipal venture capital fund that they can use to jump start their businesses and get them going," said Republican Steve Kimatian.

Kimatian says city leaders can also help small businesses by sharing their expertise. Otis Jennings says that lies in having a strong head of economic development.

"Being a mayor you don't have to be an expert at everything. But you must, I must, hire the right economic development leader that will assist small businesses in being successful," said Jennings, the Conservative Party candidate.

Stephanie Miner says the city's economic development office, first and foremost, has to be more predictable.

"We need an office that's been re-engineered that's been streamlined so there's one-stop shopping and people understand they walk in, they get the information they need and the time it's going to take and they can walk out with some definite answers," said Miner, the Democratic designee.

The forum is the first one the candidates have participated in since the primary. While sharing their thoughts, each also tried to distinguish him or herself as the clear choice for voters in November.

"I am the only candidate right now who has a track record of getting major capital projects done in the city," Jennings said.

"I have a proven track record of being someone who's stood up against the status quo, someone who's embraced change and said we need a vision for this city," Miner said.

"I come in unencumbered by other obligations. I don't owe anyone anything. All I bring is 30 years of business experience and community experience to the job," Kimatian said.

The candidates will undoubtedly participate in lots more forums, with the whole city listening and watching, to prove they're the one to lead Syracuse into the future.