Candidates for Ray County Clerk and Missouri House District 7 representative recently offered their perspectives on prevention programs, youth mental health and substance use during a forum focused on issues affecting children and families. The discussion took place during a candidate forum hosted by the Ray County Coalition, which focuses on youth substance use prevention and mental health awareness. Clerk candidate Kurt Croix and state representative candidate Jeremy Clevenger answered questions related to prevention efforts, youth mental health, emerging substances and the role government can play in supporting young people and families. Croix is a software engineer, husband and father of twins. He described the county clerk position as a technical role rather than a partisan one and highlighted several technology projects he has developed, including a budget explorer, a road reporting tool and a file auditing system designed to help residents track changes to county records and…