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No sooner did the words escape Luiz Garcia's mouth, were they put to the test. "People accusing other people, people calling other people out. I'm not going to do that," said Garcia, an Allentown Police detective and Republican candidate for mayor. "I'm not going to point the finger at anybody." Garcia's opponent, developer Nat Hyman, seized on the opportunity. The main issue in the 2017 mayoral race has been corruption and a perceived lack of ethics from the current administration, Hyman said, alluding to the ongoing FBI investigation into the city's contracting process that has resulted in seven guilty pleas. And yet Garcia, a city employee, is running for office, Hyman said. That violates city law, he said, which states that employees may not take an "active part in political campaigns for candidates for city office. "We can't just decide which rules you want to follow and which ones you don't," Hyman said. "We've got to follow them all." That exchange set the tone for the debate between the two Republican candidates Wednesday. Tony Iannelli, president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, moderated. Garcia fired back at Hyman, revealing for the first time that the two sat down to dinner and Hyman directly warned Garcia that his nominating petitions would be challenged. "He says, 'I'm going to challenge your petitions,' face-to-face," Garcia said. "But then who contests my petitions?" Garcia's petitions were challenged, but not by Hyman. In March, Muhlenberg College student Jessica Pearse contested the petitions in Lehigh County Court. President Judge Edward Reibman ruled that the city's Board of Ethics, and not his court, was the proper venue to hear the complaint, which centered on whether Garcia is eligible to run for city office. Hyman acknowledged meeting with Garcia, but said he did it out of concern for the Republican Party. If Garcia wins the Republican nomination in the primary, his Democratic opponent would inevitably file a complaint with the Board of Ethics in an attempt to knock Garcia off the ballot, Hyman said. "If they get him off the ballot, the Democrat will win," Hyman said. To date, no complaint has been filed with the Board of Ethics. Garcia said he is the only true Republican candidate for mayor, noting that Hyman, a longtime Democrat, changed his party affiliation shortly before announcing a bid for office. Hyman has tried to silence the party, Garcia said. "You have to understand who I am," Garcia said. "I am here. I am Allentown." The candidates also divided when Iannelli asked them what could be done to make the city government be more transparent to the public. Garcia said that he would be more inclusive of Allentown City Council as mayor and invite them to early discussions about the city budget. The city should also be audited, Garcia said, although a forensic audit, as some Democratic candidates have suggested, would be extremely expensive, he said. Allentown is already audited annually by an independent firm. Hyman said that despite the FBI investigation into Allentown, the city does not have a systemic problem with corruption. There have been "bad actors," he said, and faulted members of city council for not being a better check on mayoral power. Hyman suggested a policy requiring city officials to resign before they can run for higher office. He also said the city should consider term limits for public officials. "When you have nothing to hide, everything you do should be open," Hyman said. Garcia and Hyman will face off in the May 16 primary for the Republican nomination. The winner will take on one of seven Democrats vying for the Democratic nomination in November: Mayor Ed Pawlowski, the city's three-term incumbent mayor; Charlie Thiel, an Allentown School Board member and former security company executive; Joshua Siegel, a recent college graduate; David Jones, a pastor and Lehigh County commissioner; Siobhan "Sam" Bennett, a bed and breakfast owner and former CEO in Washington; Ray O'Connell, president of city council and a former Allentown School District administrator; and Nathan Woodring, a bus driver. eopilo@mcall.com Twitter @emilyopilo 610-820-6522 ON TV · The GOP debate will air on Tony Iannelli's TV show "Business Matters." · What channel: WFMZ-TV 69 · What time: 7:30 p.m. Monday April 10 Read the original article here.