Mr. Bluck intends to make law and order ? and specifically increasing the police presence on Hamilton's streets ? a central plank of his election campaign.

"People are being hassled and this situation is not satisfactory in a community where we expect to make a living from tourism and we have top international business people coming to the island," Mr. Bluck said.

"The lack of policing is a big issue. We have had a problem that goes back many years with certain elements hassling people, particularly women, even during the daytime."

He added that successive governments had ignored the problem and, despite requests from the Corporation, had failed to provide levels of police presence that would deter aggressive behaviour, particularly from vagrants.

"When there is a visible police presence, this sort of behaviour disappears," Mr. Bluck said. "We at the Corporation have visited both the Governor and the Premier to talk about this issue.

"After our last meeting, we got a result ? but it didn't last long. We got extra police on patrol for three weeks."

He added that the Corporation's "amazing" staff had been forced to deal with "the unpleasant side of the vagrant population".

"More than 100 people sleep rough in the city every night," Mr. Bluck said. "This is not through lack of trying, but when there is help offered, they sometimes don't want to take it."

Strong leadership and the introduction of a more businesslike approach in running the Corporation of Hamilton are other improvements Mr. Bluck says he would bring as Mayor.

Mr. Bluck is an Alderman with the Corporation of Hamilton, who this week declared his intention to run in the mayoral election on April 27. Mr. Bluck is also a former president of the Rotary Club and has served on the boards of both the West End Development Corporation and the Bermuda National Trust.

Lawson Mapp, who has been Mayor since 2000, has also stated that he will stand for re-election for a third term.

Mr. Bluck said the Corporation faced a period of tough decision-making in the coming years, particularly as plans for the revamped waterfront move forward.

"We are facing huge issues and the public needs to have confidence in the people dealing with them," Mr. Bluck said. "They need to know that people with business minds are dealing with the Corporation's $20 million budget."

Mr. Bluck said the Corporation needed to be more prompt with its decision-making.

"We need to make decisions in a more businesslike way in our 'over-bureaucracised' community," he said. "When you're dealing with people like hotel developers, they find it frustrating when they don't get answers.

"Even if the answer is negative, they just want to know where they stand.

"We need to make decisions on the waterfront and move forward. And if circumstances change, we need to be flexible enough to change course, without being bound by bureaucracy. We need to be more nimble."

Mr. Mapp said yesterday that he welcomed the electoral challenge of Mr. Bluck and Alderman Sonia Grant, the Deputy Mayor, who also reportedly intends to run.

"Elections are very healthy," Mr. Mapp said. "They give the constituents the chance to choose, every three years, who they want in the chair. That's democracy."

Mr. Mapp saw the waterfront as a long-term project that would require at least ten years to come to fruition. Over the next three years, he saw plans for a new hotel on the site of the Par-la-Ville parking lot as a major issue.

"We have been in talks with developers to put a small business hotel on that site," Mr. Mapp said. "I'd like to see that lot cleared and the hotel built with parking on one or two levels below it.

"Traffic is also a big issue and the pedestrianisation of lower Reid Street.

"We are told that we are going to be getting a lot more cruise ship passengers coming into the city from Dockyard. We have to consider how best we can handle them. The waterfront is a big thing and we have to look at revitalising it and look at how much more retail space we should have."

Asked to speak about his strengths as Mayor, Mr. Mapp said: "The ability to head up a team. I couldn't do it all on my own, but by heading up the right people with various gifts and skills, I can head the team."

Mr. Bluck, who chairs the Corporation's Wharf Committee, said other big issues including moving forward with the waterfront plan by consulting with various interested groups from business people to conservationists.

He would also like to see the creation of development corporation for Hamilton to bring together people with the relevant expertise to oversee the massive changes ahead.

More residential developments inside the city boundaries are also in his plans, as well as office buildings to meet a still-high demand.

After running a fine arts and antiques business in Hamilton for more than 20 years, Mr. Bluck felt he was well equipped to understand the needs of retail businesses in the city.

Nomination day for the mayoral contest is April 20.