Escondido City Council candidates offered widely varying opinions Wednesday on a minor league ballpark proposed for the city, reforming public employee pensions and how to make the city more appealing to developers and businesses.

The candidates squared off Wednesday morning at a City Hall forum sponsored by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, and later in the day during a North County Times editorial board meeting.

Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler, who entered the council race on the last day of candidate filing, reiterated her strong support for the ballpark, which would be home to a Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

Pfeiler said during the editorial board meeting that the ballpark would be a huge opportunity for the city to spark development in an industrial area south of Highway 78 and east of Interstate 15.

She said two "master developers" have approached the city with proposals for collateral development in the area, which she called evidence that spending $50 million in city redevelopment money on the ballpark would be a wise investment.

Councilwoman Marie Waldron shared Pfeiler's optimism, contending that redevelopment money is intended exactly for such projects. She also said Padres owner Jeff Moorad's plan to spend millions on a Triple-A team shows he is not asking the city for a free ride.

Waldron said some concerns about the ballpark's exact location, which hasn't been determined, made her reluctant to offer full support. But she said it would be inappropriate to criticize the project until more details emerge.

Businessman Jim Crone said he supports the ballpark concept but reiterated his contention that it should be built closer to downtown, where there is greater opportunity for collateral development.

Crone also said the projected interest rate on the redevelopment bonds of 8 percent to 10 percent would require collateral development of $400 million to $500 million.

Estimating that Westfield North County mall is worth about $700 million, Crone said the city would need something equivalent to "another mall" to make the ballpark investment worthwhile.

Candidate Jason Everitt, a public policy analyst, said the project seemed too risky without some guarantees from Moorad. Everitt contended that cities frequently take big financial losses on stadiums.

Businessman Richard Barron also advocated for building the ballpark downtown, and said he couldn't support the project until city officials come up with "a coherent next step."

Former Councilman Ed Gallo said he couldn't support the city's covering the entire cost of the ballpark. He explained that a similar proposal to build a ballpark on the site of a Lowe's home improvement store was quietly rejected five years ago because the city was required to pay the entire construction cost.

On pensions, all the candidates agreed that reform was necessary.

Waldron said the solution should vary by city and by an employee's salary. Everitt said he supported smaller pensions for high-paid employees but that ordinary workers deserved strong pensions.

Barron said he might support transforming pensions into 401(k) plans, where employees would get benefits based on the performance of investments instead of being guaranteed a specific annual pension payment.

Everitt, Barron and Gallo also criticized so-called "pension spiking," where employees manipulate a larger pension by artificially boosting compensation during their final year of work.

Crone said he needed to study pensions more before commenting in detail, and Pfeiler missed the pension debate, which was part of the editorial board meeting.

During the City Hall forum, the candidates mostly discussed improving the city's business climate and its image in the region.

Waldron said city officials should stop airing "dirty laundry" in the media. Pfeiler, Barron and Everitt said residents and city officials should tout the city's qualities.

Crone said the city should eliminate "red tape," Gallo said the city should seek advice from commercial brokers, and candidate Carmen Miranda said the city should conduct exit interviews with departing businesses.

The two candidates who receive the most votes Nov. 2 will serve four-year council terms.

Call staff writer David Garrick at 760-740-5468.