The first Boston mayoral debate took place tonight, pitting City Councilor John Connolly against State Rep. Marty Walsh for the first time. As expected, it was difficult to ascertain a clear-cut winner as both candidates have corresponding perspectives on many of the issues that plague Boston but their own ideas on how to solve them.

On education reform

Both mayoral hopefuls are calling for a longer school days, to the chagrin of anyone enrolled between preschool and senior year of high school, but the question remains how it’ll be paid for.

Marty Walsh, the former labor union official, claims to have the ability to negotiate daily extensions into contracts, reorganize the office of the school department to find additional revenue, and employ the use of his legislative relationships to find more funding.

Conversely, former Boston Public School teacher John Connolly says he’s able to make deep cuts in the top-heavy BPS bureaucracy to generate revenue, renegotiate pilot agreements, and close the achievement gap.

On translating charter school success to public schools

Both candidates touted the sentiment that public schools need to work in tandem with with charter schools and higher-education institutions to share ideas and means of staying progressive. They also agree that a fully-staffed social and emotional support system on the part of public school faculty is a must-have.

Connolly, though, is also calling for charter schools and public schools to fall under the same facility contract to help give public schools another leg up and keep them in close contention with charter school productivity.

On curtailing police misconduct

Again, both candidates are keen on one aspect and that’s diversifying the Boston Police Department, especially at the district captain level.

Walsh, though, prefers to build a community relationship with the BPD through a citizens advisory committee that would keep police officers from intimidating minorities in specific neighborhoods. A forum for citizens and police to be able to sit down and discuss challenges ought to be a Boston mandate, as far as he’s concerned.

Connolly wants the proactivity to occur on the part of the BPD. Making sure police are talking to young people rather than bullying goes a long way, and that begins with the next commissioner who needs to posses strong community values. A cadet program-to-graduate program would also help to a bring a new educational dimension to the police department that Boston has yet to see.

On solutions to improve mass transit

We finally saw a difference in opinion when it came to reforming the hellish transportation system we know as the MBTA. Connolly wants to take the initiative to solicit outside investment by suburban legislatures and put an emphasis on maintenance. He also vows to lobby hard on Beacon Hill for state funds to help keep the T, commuter rail, and buses running in a timely and efficient fashion but to also work with businesses like New Balance, who is funding a commuter rail station, to have industry invest in public transit.

On the other hand, Walsh wants to hold the City of Boston more accountable for allocating funds to the MBTA by calling for The Hub to invest heavily in transit, but also by calling for the larger-scale Massachusetts Department of Transportation to collaborate on a way to find additional contribution to a system that anybody rarely speaks favorably of.

On asking retirees and pensioners to pay more for benefits

This may be the only area where on candidate cast himself in a better light than the other. Walsh, being an advocate for unions, is a fan of coalition bargaining in order to negotiate on savings needed to move forward on healthcare costs.

Connolly, meanwhile, poked a hole in that theory by contending that Walsh’s legislation and contracts would cost taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 million. He also made mention of Walsh’s accepting $1 million in outside funding for his campaign that could translate to him taking kickbacks from unions and other influencers that could impact how he runs Boston.

On how they’re different from each other

Connolly lauds himself on being a budget expert, having worked on six of them with Mayor Menino in order to keep the city in good fiscal shape to change peoples lives. His teaching experience has also shaped the way he views education reform, a comprehensive approach is necessary, and understand what it takes to reach the youth of Boston, the bellwethers of tomorrow.

Walsh also feels he can connect with the youth of Boston. Not only has he battled cancer and alcoholism in his earlier years, but his blue-collar neighborhood roots coupled with his having worked on past legislation to bring life science and biotech industries to Boston makes him a man of the people in The Hub.