“Our staff are terrified of the blonde bombshell coming back,” Carolyn Parrish barked at Bonnie Crombie during Thursday night’s heated Mississauga mayoral debate, marking one of several moments where municipal concerns took a back seat to personal insults.Crombie, a former three-term Mississauga mayor, and Parrish, the incumbent seeking re-election, didn’t mince words during the 90-minute debate moderated by CityNews’ Mark McAllister.The other two participants, councillors Dipika Damerla and Alvin Tedjo, said the behaviour between the two was further proof that change is needed at city hall.“I think people are tired of it,” Tedjo said during the post-debate scrums.“I think the real concern is there’s all these personal attacks, we’ve seen the two former mayors, especially, attack each other online — and in person tonight — and people are tired of it, they want new, hopeful visions for the future for their city.”Tedjo, however, wasn’t above throwing some mud, saying Crombie “quit” on the residents of Mississauga when she stepped down as mayor to seek the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party. window.plugins = {"ima3":{"ad_server_url":"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?sz=640x360&iu=\/7326\/en.citynews_toronto.web\/video&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&ad_rule=1&cmsid=1224&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url={window.location.href}&correlator={timestamp}&vid={mediainfo.id}&title={mediainfo.name}&referrer={document.referrer}&duration={mediainfo.duration}&description_url=toronto.citynews.ca","syndicated_enable":true,"index_bidding_ad_server_url_exchange":{"index_bidding_ad_exchange_site_id":{"preroll":{"1":{"1":{"siteID":191890},"2":{"siteID":192079}}}}}},"moat":{"partner_code":"rogersbrightcoveint878700116445"},"streamsense":{"ns_st_pu":"\"Rogers\"","c2":"3005682","c3":"\"CITYNEWS\"","ns_st_st":"\"CITYTV\"","ns_st_stc":"\"5193\""},"chartbeat":{"uid":"55711","domain":"toronto.citynews.ca"},"omniture":{"site_catalyst_account":"rogersrmiglobal","site_catalyst_brand":"citynews toronto"},"adtitle":{"advertisement_title":"Advertisement"}}But that seemed innocuous in comparison to the venom spewed between Crombie and Parrish, as they insulted and openly questioned each other’s character, work ethic, and competence as politicians.“At times I felt like it was kindergarten,” Damerla said afterwards.“It was disappointing at times to see candidates personally attacking each other, that’s not my style to personally attack, I think it’s disappointing, but it also tells you it’s time for change and that’s why we need change.” window.plugins = {"ima3":{"ad_server_url":"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?sz=640x360&iu=\/7326\/en.citynews_toronto.web\/video&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&ad_rule=1&cmsid=1224&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url={window.location.href}&correlator={timestamp}&vid={mediainfo.id}&title={mediainfo.name}&referrer={document.referrer}&duration={mediainfo.duration}&description_url=toronto.citynews.ca","syndicated_enable":true,"index_bidding_ad_server_url_exchange":{"index_bidding_ad_exchange_site_id":{"preroll":{"1":{"1":{"siteID":191890},"2":{"siteID":192079}}}}}},"moat":{"partner_code":"rogersbrightcoveint878700116445"},"streamsense":{"ns_st_pu":"\"Rogers\"","c2":"3005682","c3":"\"CITYNEWS\"","ns_st_st":"\"CITYTV\"","ns_st_stc":"\"5193\""},"chartbeat":{"uid":"55711","domain":"toronto.citynews.ca"},"omniture":{"site_catalyst_account":"rogersrmiglobal","site_catalyst_brand":"citynews toronto"},"adtitle":{"advertisement_title":"Advertisement"}}Crombie and Parrish both agreed things got out of hand, but blamed each other for the escalation.Crombie said Parrish’s “blonde bombshell” comment was not “untypical of the mayor.”“She does treat residents with the same sort of disrespect.”“I would hope that the tone and tenor of the future debates, maybe we can lower the temperature, I think we lost control a little bit.“I think there were a lot of very underhanded, mean-spirited statements made that were not worthy of a person in that position.”“Voices were rising,” she admitted. “Temperaments were rising, I think we really need to tone it down.” window.plugins = {"ima3":{"ad_server_url":"http:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?sz=640x360&iu=\/7326\/en.citynews_toronto.web\/video&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&ad_rule=1&cmsid=1224&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&unviewed_position_start=1&url={window.location.href}&correlator={timestamp}&vid={mediainfo.id}&title={mediainfo.name}&referrer={document.referrer}&duration={mediainfo.duration}&description_url=toronto.citynews.ca","syndicated_enable":true,"index_bidding_ad_server_url_exchange":{"index_bidding_ad_exchange_site_id":{"preroll":{"1":{"1":{"siteID":191890},"2":{"siteID":192079}}}}}},"moat":{"partner_code":"rogersbrightcoveint878700116445"},"streamsense":{"ns_st_pu":"\"Rogers\"","c2":"3005682","c3":"\"CITYNEWS\"","ns_st_st":"\"CITYTV\"","ns_st_stc":"\"5193\""},"chartbeat":{"uid":"55711","domain":"toronto.citynews.ca"},"omniture":{"site_catalyst_account":"rogersrmiglobal","site_catalyst_brand":"citynews toronto"},"adtitle":{"advertisement_title":"Advertisement"}}When asked why she called Crombie a “blonde bombshell” Parrish said it was “because she was yelling at everyone else and I had to get a word in edge-wise.”“It got a little out of control,” she conceded before rapidly pointing the finger back at her rival. “I think (Crombie) accelerated it and the rest of us just got dragged along. You can’t stand there and let her interrupt you all night and you can’t stand there and let her say things about you that aren’t true and not defend yourself.”When asked what she said that wasn’t true about her, Parrish seemed to take offence to Crombie’s comment that she sat in her office being unproductive.“That I sit behind my desk all the time, anyone who wants to look at my logs, probably 50 meetings a week.”