Two candidates for Ray County Sheriff faced off during a public forum held recently at the Eagleton Center. Gary Blackwell and Geremy Pearce answered questions from the audience, while current Sheriff Scott Childers declined the invitation to attend. The forum started out with an inquiry about the candidates’ motivation for running and any plans or priorities for improving the way the department is currently operating. Pearce believes the best starting point is policy and procedures. “The big thing I have learned is I need to work every job,” said Pearce. “The first thing I would do is start at the jail and work every other position throughout the sheriff’s office, that way I could figure out exactly what’s needed to fix it — in that way, helping with policy and procedures. I think the jail is going to be the biggest thing and stopping all these lawsuits dropping.” The rebuttal from Blackwell emphasized the jail. “The biggest liability aspect for any sheriff is the jail,” said…