Opponents teed off on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's age and behavior during a 90-minute mayoral forum last night, but the 27-year-old Democrat proved he could give as well as take his own swings.

The forum, attended by a standing-room-only crowd of 400 at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, contained plenty of talk on meat-and-potatoes city issues including parking taxes and policing, but the big crowd cheered heartily a few times when it turned to Mr. Ravenstahl's age.

The mayor has been hounded lately with talk about jet rides, pricey rounds of golf and his use of a police SUV for a Toby Keith concert, so when a question came up early about his behavior, Republican opponent Mark DeSantis pounced.

Youth "is not an excuse for poor judgment, for bad behavior either. You either perform in this job or you do not," the 48-year-old South Side tech firm head said to Mr. Ravenstahl. " ... It's about how you do your job and what you do in your job, and what you reflect in your behavior, in your words and in every single action you take. That is leadership."

Even the Libertarian candidate, Tony Oliva, 28, took a shot. "My golf game isn't good enough to have anyone pay for it," the former paratrooper quipped.

Mr. Ravenstahl got his own chance to play to the crowd when he heard this question: What is the single most important thing to do, to improve the city's image nationwide?

"We should elect a 27-year-old mayor," he replied to big cheers.

The forum was hosted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with five editorial writers asking the four formal candidates a series of questions, followed by questions submitted by readers and the crowd.

Ryan Scott, 24, the Socialist Workers candidate from Friendship, used nearly every question during the forum to talk about worker's rights, police brutality and other issues.

On the city's 45 percent parking tax -- which City Council voted to freeze, despite state law calling for a 5 point decrease -- Mr. DeSantis said the city risked losing state aid and vowed to lower it. Mr. Ravenstahl said he wants to talk to state legislators on the parking levy and has 10 days to decide on a veto.

On policing, Mr. Ravenstahl said the city will have 100 more officers next year, a reopened West End station, more beat cops and perhaps surveillance cameras. Mr. DeSantis said the Act 47 recovery plan established the officer staffing level -- sparking a weird look from the mayor -- and vowed to move more police from desk jobs to the street.

On the North Side casino, Mr. DeSantis criticized the mayor for missing a community meeting on the issue, saying "if you call a meeting, you have to be there."

Mr. Ravenstahl said the city's hands were tied by state law on many issues, but he is tackling the issues through a joint city-county task force.

On cleaning and maintaining city neighborhoods, Mr. DeSantis said he would follow the "broken windows" theory -- cleaning, fixing and policing neighborhood vandalism and crime before it takes root and becomes worse. Mr. Ravenstahl, befitting an incumbent, repeated a long list of his community initiatives, including doubling the city's "redd-up" crew, doubling the city's budget for vacant building demolition, and pursuing criminal charges for nuisance property landlords.

Mr. DeSantis said the city would get more money from nonprofits -- perhaps to help its pension fund -- with better handling of its operating budget. As Mr. Ravenstahl began to respond, the Republican cut in, before being quieted by Post-Gazette moderator Tom Waseleski.

"I've always been someone who's been cooperative" with non profits, Mr. Ravenstahl said, gesturing at Mr. DeSantis, "rather than confrontational."

Mr. DeSantis got a chance for rebuttal with the very next question, about the Pittsburgh Promise -- a plan announced last year to provide Pittsburgh Public Schools graduates with money for college, primarily from foundations and businesses. Mr. Ravenstahl said he still supported it, though only $10,000 had been raised to foot an estimated $3 million yearly cost.

"You should actually go to [nonprofits] with a plan, before you announce it, and get their agreement to actually fund it before you announce the program," Mr. DeSantis said.

The next mayoral debate is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Duquesne University's A.J. Palumbo Center.