When it comes to Grant County's future, candidates for the County Council diverged on where the emphasis should be placed, from jobs to education to a balanced budget.

District 1 Democratic candidate Jody Mauller said he wanted to help create an environment that would reverse the county's decline in population.

"I want a county people want to come to, not move away from," Mauller said.

Mauller's opponent, Republican incumbent Mike Scott, said he wanted to focus on continuing to improve the economic development, which has helped the county in the past few years.

"We need to continue to build on a positive direction," Scott said.

District 3 candidate Tim Rush, Republican, also said he believed the county was headed in the right direction. To continue moving forward, though, elected officials would need to create a plan and work together to accomplish it.

His opponent, Democrat Lori Stair, could not come to the debate because she was sick, according to a letter she sent.

The county shouldn't forget improving education and protecting the environment, though, Democratic District 2 candidate Dan Brock said.

The other District 2 candidate, Republican incumbent Myron Brankle, said a strong government is needed for a successful future. Brankle also said he believes taxes should be cut to help encourage families to move to the county.

District 4 candidate Larry Wilson, Republican, said the council members need to work together on goals that are focused on the whole county.

"We can't have seven different people going seven different ways," Wilson said.

His Democratic opponent, Jason Davis, disagreed, saying the county needs to first focus on balancing the budget and then on safety and education.

As for keeping a balanced budget and not sending the county into debt again, candidates suggested ideas such as communicating with department heads and being able to say no to requests.

Scott said the county needed to continue to be tight with the budget for about another two to three years and to continue using a competitive bidding process for contracts to make sure it will not go into debt again.

Mauller, however, said he was not sure the budget was truly balanced. To make sure it is, the council will have to keep a watch on it to make sure funds are being put to the best uses.

If the council wants to stay out of the red, though, it will have to be willing to cut items that are not necessary, Rush said.

"We're going to have to say no to some things, unfortunately," he said.

Brankle cited how the council has already made sure the departments had reasonable budgets, which helped cut down on appropriation requests.

"That has caused all departments to work better," Brankle said.

However, Brock said more long-term planning is needed, with attention paid to building up emergency funds.

"More long-term planning is the answer to almost every budgetary problem," Brock said.

David said having a responsible council is most important to him.

"We need to try to stay within that budget," Davis said.

Continuing several of the county's practices, such as buying in bulk, will help keep the budget into the black, Wilson said.