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The upcoming Moffat County Commissioner election will address one overall issue, candidate Tom Gray said at a forum Tuesday night.

"Do you want to stay the course or change direction?" Gray asked.

During a candidate forum sponsored by KRAI-FM, the four Republican commissioner candidates outlined the courses they will direct the county to follow if they are elected.

Gray, the operator of a cow-calf operation north of Craig, and Les Hampton, an incumbent commissioner, are competing for the District 1 nomination for commissioner. Former Craig mayor Saed Tayyara and Sheriff's Deputy Michael Anthony are running for the District 2 nomination.

KRAI's Frank Hanel moderated the forum.

When Hanel asked what county programs the candidates didn't support, Gray and Anthony criticized the county's fire management plan, which has identified communities at risk for wildfire.

Anthony said that it's not a program the county should be funding considering its current financial situation.

Gray criticized the next phase of the plan, which involves working with willing landowners to develop plans to protect communities. It's an individual's responsibility to protect his or her home, not the responsibility of the government, Gray said.

Hampton defended the plan, saying it was funded mostly through grants. He called the plan "stewardship of the land."

Tayyara said he is concerned about services the county subsidizes that could be supported through private enterprise. He cited the Moffat County landfill as an example of one such service.

When asked whether they would create new county programs, Hampton and Tayyara said they do not favor adding any government services at this time, and Gray said he's running on a platform of smaller government.

Anthony criticized the county for not yet purchasing an instrument to test for West Nile Virus. The machine would cost $3,500, and Anthony said it's a health hazard not to have it.

When Hanel asked how the commissioners would attract new businesses to the county, Anthony answered, "I have no clue." He then added the county could assist local businesses in writing grant applications.

"First be friendly with the industry, whether it's coal or oil and gas," Tayyara said. Easing pressure on endangered and potentially endangered species could help attract oil and gas companies here, he said.

Hampton said he and the other commissioners began the process of attracting businesses several months ago. They created a list of 60 oil and gas companies with interest in Moffat County and wrote each company a letter letting them know Moffat County is an "energy friendly county."

"As far as attracting businesses, it's not the county's job," Gray said. He would help get the county out of the way to create a friendly business environment.

Debt for the construction of the Moffat County Public Safety Center has been a major source of budget trouble for the county. Hanel asked how the candidates would help ease this financial burden.

Tayyara said the county has to advertise and market the jail to bring more inmates here.

Hampton said the county is already in the process of increasing the jail's revenue generating capacity, having signed contracts to house prisoners from U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Corrections, Sweetwater and Carbon Counties in Wyoming and Rawlins, Wyo.

Anthony agreed the revenue from the safety center is improving.

"But law enforcement isn't a revenue generating entity. The Public Safety Center will not be self-supporting; it's a mandated tax burden," Anthony said.

Gray said the winning candidates would have to make something work that was "poorly planned and poorly financed." He suggested following the recommendation of a financial analyst who recently audited Moffat County. He suggested the county create a local advisory group with the mission of studying policy changes that could change the way the jail is financed.

Five candidates for commissioner and state office who will run uncontested in the primary election also spoke at the forum.

Democrat Terry Carwile, a miner at Trapper Mine, is running for the District 1 commissioner seat.

Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, is running for re-election in Senate District 8. Democrat Jay Fetcher, a rancher from Clark, is challenging Taylor.

Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, is running for re-election in House District 57. Sam Robinson, a Battlement Mesa resident, is opposing him, running on a platform of gas development reform.

The primary election is Aug. 10.