Tackling topics ranging from immigration to senior issues, the two candidates vying for the District 4 city council seat spoke before a full house Monday at a community forum at the Great Hall in Codman Square.

With the Nov. 3 election less than two weeks away, the forum was one of the last opportunities incumbent Charles Yancey and challenger Andrea Campbell had to make their cases directly to the voters while sharing the same stage.

Campbell finished well ahead of Yancey in the September preliminary election, winning 58 percent of the vote to Yancey’s 34 percent, an outcome that has fueled the challenger’s momentum.

The session was organized by neighborhood groups including the Codman Square Neighborhood Council, the Greater Four Corners Acton Coalition, and Melville Park Association.

Both candidates were invited to address their goals if elected and give opening and closing statements while audience members were invited to write down questions for the moderators to ask. On taxes,Yancey spoke about a city ordinance that he had filed to automatically renew elderly exemption of property taxes, which he said will save seniors thousands of dollars. On seniors, Campbell discussed the need for young people in the community to have mentors, and said that “seniors in our community could serve as those mentors.”

Yancey highlighted his 32 years of experience in office, inviting the audience to “study the backgrounds of each of the candidates Remember,” he said, “I have a solid record of effectiveness and success. I have a record, and my opponent does not.”

That theme echoed the message in a campaign letter sent to voters in his district this month — and signed by former City Councillor Chuck Turner, former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, state Rep. Gloria Fox, Suffolk Country Register of Probate and Family Court Felix Arroyo Sr., and District 7 Councillor Tito Jackson. The letter checked off achievements attributed to Yancey, including securing funds to build a new Mattapan Public Library, community center, and B-3 police station.

Campbell, who grew up in Roxbury, has made her personal story a foundation of the campaign, one that she calls “optimistic.” Throughout the race, she has asserted that she has made herself completely accessible to voters by giving out her personal cell phone number on her business cards. If elected, Campbell said, she plans to maintain a higher level of accessibility with her constituents.
Earlier Monday, Attorney General Maura Healey endorsed Campbell, who reacted by saying, “I look forward to a continuing partnership with the attorney general’s office in the community.”

Another hallmark of Campbell’s campaign has been her community “listening series,” in which she has met with small groups of citizens to hear specific concerns regarding their neighborhoods. As part of that process, she held a small business breakfast at the Down Home Delivery restaurant in Fields Corner on Tuesday that was attended by small business owners representing the Bowdoin Bike Shop, Chill on Park, Essential Body Herbs, and others.

At the meeting, the attendees agreed that the barriers to opening and running local businesses were frustrating and sometimes insurmountable without friendly government officials to aid in their efforts. But it should not be that complicated, said Alan Issokson, owner of H. Levenbaum Insurance and Real Estate. “It’s not rocket science, it’s bikes and coffee,” he said.