LANGLEY — The Village by the Sea nearly turned into the City of Congeniality during Thursday’s forum for city council candidates in August’s Primary Election.

It was a night that lacked knockout punches or even hard elbows. Candidates looked inward instead and offered personal assessments of the skills, experience and outlook needed for Langley’s next crop of political leaders.

The only semantic shoving came when several candidates pushed back against earlier assessments of them made mostly by online critics.

Robin Adams, a candidate for Position 3 on the council, told the crowd of 40 or so that he wasn’t like the person they had read about online.

“Those of you who read the blogosphere will know that I’ve been described as an angry old man with a NIMBY attitude,” Adams said.

“I want to try to put a different spin on that.

“I want you to see me as someone whose anger is actually passion for the future of Langley. And whose NIMBYism is really an understanding that our economic prosperity is not alternative to the environment, but is actually dependent upon the environment.”

For example, Adams noted, the city depends on an aquifer for water, but seawater intrusion can be a threat if water is pumped out of the aquifer faster than it can be replenished.

Water rates need to be restructured, he added, so future growth in demand can be accommodated by conservation.

Kathleen Waters, who is also hoping to advance in the Position 3 race, as is Jim Sundberg, again faced the allegation that she doesn’t live in Langley. Two of the submitted questions during the forum centered on her residency.

Waters recalled the “mini-campaign” that she said was waged to discredit her candidacy when she sought an appointed position on the council last December. Some questioned whether Waters, who has owned property in Langley for 30 years and lives on Wharf Street, met the one-year residency requirement for a council position.

“I assure you I live here,” Waters said. “You are welcome to drop in at any time and sit at my picnic table or come in … and have a cup of tea.

“Maybe you can help me get some of the moss off the roof,” she joked.

Jonathon Moses, a candidate for Position 4 on the city council along with R. Bruce Allen and Thomas Gill, tackled the topic of Proposition 1, the petition-spawned ballot proposal to eliminate the position of an elected mayor in Langley. Moses has been the only candidate for office this year to support the proposal.

“I think that proposition will give us an opportunity to work together as a community toward common objectives,” Moses said.

Moses said he has jumped into city politics since returning to Langley to live full-time in May. A political science professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, he has spent summers in Langley for the past 15 years, with one-year sabbaticals in the village every five years.

He also complained about the state of public debate.

“And at least on the Internet, it’s a very unwelcoming atmosphere,” Moses said.

Moses, Adams and other Edgecliff residents who have opposed development in their bluffside neighborhood have drawn considerable heat in Internet discussions for fighting the Langley Passage housing project.

Moses said Langley was being hurt by the nature of political discourse online, especially comments made on the South Whidbey Record website.

“This is not good. It’s something that’s dividing the community, I think, and it’s making it more and more difficult for people to participate in politics,” Moses said.

This week’s forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters, also featured those who were running for office unopposed.

Candidates were quizzed on economic development, building costs, utility fees, tourism, taxes and whether they supported keeping Langley Middle School open.

Though the LMS issue is one for the school board, several candidates were quick to chime in.

Larry Kwarsick, the sole candidate for mayor, answered “yes” before the moderator had finished asking the question.

“That was an easy one,” said Kwarsick, who’s lived in Langley for 25 years and put his kids through South End schools. “I can’t imagine losing it.”

Kwarsick was one of two candidates at the forum who won’t face an August or November election challenge; Councilman Hal Seligson also gave his take on the issues of the night.

Kwarsick spent much of his opening remarks not talking about himself, but about Prop. 1, the ballot measure that would eliminate the job Kwarsick was hoping to land in the November election. If passed by voters Aug. 16, the proposition would eliminate the position of elected mayor and give the city council greater say in what happens at city hall.

Prop. 1, he said, was a radical, unnecessary and costly change.

Seligson said Prop. 1 and what would happen with the mayor’s position was “the big elephant in the room.”

The council’s newest member has also been one of the most vocal for keeping its power in check. That continued Thursday evening, as Seligson announced that voters in town were already getting their ballots in the mail, and he pulled his ballot out of his jacket pocket and held it high enough for all to see.

Out came a Sharpie marker, and Seligson filled in the “no” box. He then turned to Kwarsick.

“Vote no, and allow this man to become mayor,” Seligson said.

Business growth and support were reoccurring themes throughout, and the candidates found easy agreement with promises to work with the Port of South Whidbey to get the marina makeover finished and strengthen Langley’s draw as a tourism hotspot. Candidates vowed to work to recruit new businesses to the city that would also draw young families.

Sundberg, the current chairman of the Langley Planning Advisory Board and a retiree who worked for five years in city planning, said his education and experience in zoning and land-use would be an asset to the council.

“I like what I see happening in Langley today and I can help these local economic trends continue. Local economic progress is happening,” Sundberg said.

“In spite of the loss of a few iconic businesses, 16 or 17 new businesses have opened in Langley over the past three years. Several old businesses have expanded.”

“I want to help Langley to prosper in ways that preserve its aesthetic uniqueness and the quality of life that we all enjoy,” he said.

Waters, a Langley business owner who had a long career in the healthcare industry, stressed that “housing and jobs go together.”

“Let’s remember that Langley is the only city on the South End,” she said. “It can become a hub of commerce and still continue its offering of arts, entertainment, restaurants and tourist attractions.

“We brag on our seaside locale, but it doesn’t entice us. I think we need on-the-water charm and commerce on First Street that matches the rest of downtown.”

Waters said Seawall Park should be further developed, and parking for those using the marina should also be improved.

Her central focus Thursday, though, was the claim that greater openness was needed at city hall.

“I’d like to bring more transparency and accountability to our council. By transparency, I mean the capability of our residents to easily know the details of what we’re doing with taxpayer money,” Waters said.

If voters want the status quo, she said, “or as Barbra Streisand would say, ‘the way we were,’ vote for my opponents.”

Allen, a candidate in the other council race on the ballot, also agreed that Langley needs to do more to bring new businesses to town, especially light, non-polluting industries. His view of the current local economy was not as bright as the one offered by Sundberg, and Allen said Langley leaders should do more to entice visitors.

Allen spent 30 years in the Army and retired as a command sergeant major. He’s been intensely involved in volunteer work in the community, and noted the financial troubles of the South Whidbey Youth Connection. Working to solve those types of issues — and getting the city council to work as a cohesive team — were the reasons why he was in the race.

“I’m not a politician,” Allen said. “I just want to see us all work together.”

The forum didn’t feature everyone on the ballot.

Gill, the third candidate for Position 4, did not attend the meeting. He was at work at Whidbey Telecom.