I watched last night’s mayoral debate seated beside Devo’n Williams, a senior communications major at Johnson C. Smith University.

Williams is a reporter for the JCSU News and, like me, he had come to cover the event. Throughout the evening I watched as Williams made check marks on a crude grid he had drawn.

When I asked him why, he explained: Since Republican John Lassiter and Democrat Anthony Foxx are so close on most issues, he said, the grid was his way of trying to better differentiate.

So, what did the young journalist conclude?

“The biggest thing they differ on,” he said, “is Lassiter keeps stressing his experience in the private business sector and also his political experience, while Foxx is pushing more so his life experience and his time in Charlotte and his time in Charlotte schools.”

Williams’ assessment was as keen as any I’ve heard – and probably says much about how each man would lead our city.

It wasn’t until I listened to the debate again, on tape, that the subtleties emerged.  

Forget the recent poll showing that voters can’t discern between Foxx and Lassiter. These men are different, at least in how they view the role of government.

The difference was never more clear than when they talked last night about issues that involve government spending.

Take the proposed Beatties Ford trolley, for example.

Fox said he voted this month to spend $4.5 million to design the line, overriding Mayor Pat McCrory’s veto, because he believes the trolley, like the airport, would be an engine for economic growth.

Lassiter, meanwhile, defended his vote to uphold the veto: “The day will come when we will be able to build that line,” he told the roughly 200 people inside Biddle Hall. “But we’re at a time when there is not enough money to pay for the basic needs that our families are all feeling. This is not the time to promise things you don’t know how to pay for.”

When asked by one of the moderators if each would pledge, short-term, to hold the line on property taxes, Lassiter quickly agreed. “I’m committed to not increasing property taxes,” he said.

Foxx was more nuanced, saying, “I envision being able to maintain a relatively stable revenue level for the foreseeable future.”

City Council last raised property taxes in 2006, a 9 percent increase and the first hike in 20 years. Foxx voted in favor; Lassiter opposed.

At Tuesday’s debate, Foxx said the hike was necessary to fund the police department’s request for 70 additional officers. Without the increase, he said, crime in Charlotte might not be dropping, as it is, and city government would surely be facing the same kinds of budget cuts the county has made.

“I am proud of the fact that the city has changed the culture by hiring officers that we need to hire and making sure we’re investing in public safety again,” Fox said.

Lassiter, in contrast, said the city could have hired almost all of those officers by making cuts in other areas of the budget.

And there you have it – the businessman versus the visionary.

Foxx was at his best when he talked about communities and the “softer” side of government. Growing up as he did in West Charlotte, he has witnessed firsthand how government programs can change lives and transform neighborhoods.

Lassiter was best when he spoke of being a good steward of the taxpayers’ money. Being the small business owner that he is, he would approach the mayor’s job with an accountant-like mind, weighing every cost against benefits and alternatives.

They are both legitimate ways to lead. Too bad the Qcity cannot have both.