BOSTON -- Mayoral candidate Maura Hennigan sat down with NewsCenter 5's Natalie Jacobson and Janet Wu Wednesday to discuss the issues facing Boston and her race against Mayor Tom Menino.

WCVB-TV offered both candidates the chance to appear separately for a half-hour discussion, but Menino refused the offer.

Hennigan is from the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. For 24 years she has been a Boston City Councilor. A former teacher, she is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is 53 years old and divorced.

With less than a week to go before Bostonians go to the polls, Hennigan is running a new political ad on the issue of a proposed bio lab for Boston. The National Institute of Health, which is building the facility said, "Our work will not include any research in bio-weapons. Bio-weapon research is illegal."

"We live in very serious times in our city. Let us not forget what happened with anthrax, in our nation's capital, in postal systems and in people's homes. Anthrax was used as a weapon and it killed a number of people across our country. I don't want that to happen in the city of Boston," Hennigan said.

Hennigan said that Menino wants to bring the lab to the city, which will be studying agents such as anthrax and smallpox.

"These are very dangerous to be in an urban environment -- right next to housing developments and school systems," Hennigan said.

She suggested that the labs be put in remote locations -- such as on an island.

With the election just days away, public safety continued to be a key issue in the race. Hennigan said that she was disappointed in some of the decisions that Boston Police Department Commissioner Kathleen O'Toole made following the death of Victoria Snelgrove.

The Emerson College student died in a hail of pepper gun pellets fired by Boston police, a shooting triggered by rowdy Boston Red Sox fans celebrating a pennant-clinching victory over the New York Yankees in October 2004.

"We had another tragic death due to the unpreparedness of Kathleen O'Toole and the mayor of the city. Clearly, we do not want another death," Hennigan said. "I will evaluate her performance when I become mayor. But what I will be asking for each and every department head to tender a resignation and then to be evaluated individually on their performance. It will be based on each of their performances."

O'Toole has said that she needs about 300 new officers to help patrol the streets of Boston.

As mayor, Hennigan said that she'd do an assessment of all the properties owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority to either put them up for sale or lease to generate revenue to help increase the police force and infuse money into the city's education system.

Some have questioned why Hennigan lists affordable housing as one of her top priorities, but does not mention the issue in her television campaign.

"Public safety and an emergency preparedness plan are my No. 1 priorities in addition to having a great educational system, but in my print literature, which is going out to thousands of household across the city I talk about creating a line item in the city of Boston -- budget for affordable housing based on a percentage of growth and revenues from new construction."

Hennigan supports rent stabilization, which she said would provide an opportunity for families who are being displaced from the city to be able to continue to afford to live here.

"We need to increase our supply. We need to stabilize our existing renters, and we need to provide opportunities for first-time homebuyers. That is why I have been advocating for years to create a housing fund to help city employees. The mayor has actually embraced that," she said.

On the issue of education, Hennigan said that she would hold meetings in every Boston neighborhood to get input from residents about the public school system.

"I want to find out what they like about our school system, find out what they think is troubling, find out areas where we are weak, find out where there is a disconnect between parents and their education," Hennigan said.

Menino has said that one of the big problems facing the school system is the lack of parental involvement.

"Children need to have guidance but parents feel the disconnect, which is why I am talking about reinstituting an elective school committee," Hennigan said. "You don't have to go back to the exact same configuration that we have had in the past. We have had an appointed school committee for a number of years now. We have had a number of different configurations."

She said that parents want to have a say in their children's education.

"The most important thing you can give a child is a great education. Our city is not providing it. We need to give the parents an opportunity to be able to have individuals who are accountable to them, who will listen to them. That is not happening under the appointed school committee."

Menino has questioned what Hennigan has done, as City Councilor, to make life better for the residents of the city.

"Even though as an elected official you are supposed to always be promoting yourself, sometimes you can be a little but shy about doing that. Clearly, everyone knows about the Patrick Lyndon School -- an educational model for excellence. I founded that school. Each and every year in the 10 years it has existed, it has been high performing," she said.

Hennigan also pointed to the mammography van as one of her accomplishments for the city. It travels to low-income neighborhoods to bring health care to residents.

"People have returned me to office for 24 years," Hennigan said. "What is important about an elected official is talking about your accomplishments, but what I think is more important, as a woman elected official, it's not always about the glory. It's about getting results. That's what I have done as a city councilor. That is what I will do as a mayor."