Oakland is about to enter a new era as the city will vote for a mayor in April. 

Nine candidates have thrown their names into the race, seven of them took part in a forum to make their case to the voters.

Lisa Orta and Sigi Arnejo have called Oakland home for decades. Orta is a former high school teacher and has seen her city go through its challenges.

"In my experience in the town, it's been a bumpy ride," Orta said.

The recent stop on the bumpy ride has brought about concerns for public safety and how the city is going to fund essential services. For these two, the choice is really between two candidates.

"I want to know if they got solid plans for my city that I think is really hurting and needs some strong leadership," said Orta.

"It's just a mess right now," said Sigi Arnejo. "We need somebody that's going to be 'kick them to the curb' kind of people."

The candidates at the forum addressed issues from public safety to homelessness.

I've been so proud to bring in billions of dollars for housing, for public safety, for infrastructure," said Barbara Lee, candidate for Mayor." But I also know Oakland now is at a crossroads and we need experience, leadership to guide us forward."

And there were even verbal jabs thrown from the start.

"It is time that we stand up against the special interests that supported former Mayor Sheng Thao and the same ones that recruited our Congresswoman Lee to run," said Loren Taylor, candidate for mayor. "I'm standing up against them because Oakland needs independent leadership that will make the firm decisions that are hard and necessary for our city."

Some of the residents say they still want to see concrete plans on how the candidates plan to move the city forward with a $129 million dollar budget deficit this year. Orta knows it's going to be tough but she has hope that the Town will turn things around.

"What we have left in Oakland is a lot of strength in character," she said. "Lot of creativity. A lot of innovation. A lot of potential and I just haven't seen the strong leadership that we need."