A room full of Adams County voters met Democratic supervisor candidates face-to-face Thursday at a session hosted by the Adams County Federation of Democratic Women and the Democratic Executive Committee.

Each candidate who attended got an allotted amount of time in which to speak.

“This way, hopefully you will get to know them,” ACFDW member and DEC board member Beverly Merrill said.

Themes included job and industry recruitment, education, recreation and cooperation.

District 3 candidate Leroy Sessions said he would try to work with other board members and the city to move the community forward.

“I’m not sure all the duties of a supervisor entail, but I can tell you if given the job, I’ll do my best,” Sessions said. “A supervisor is more like a project manager. He puts together the pieces and makes sure someone doesn’t drop the ball.”

District 4 candidate Paul Leake said he thought owning his own business would be an asset to him if he were elected.

“Being in the business sector is an advantage,” Leake said. “And we’ve got good people here. What we need is good jobs.”

Ronald Allbritton, candidate for District 5, cited the Bible throughout his speech, and he said he was led by his beliefs.

“We need someone that thinks outside the box,” he said. “I presented a business plan to the state, and I had people say it didn’t make sense and not to come back to the office.”

Allbritton said he would work to lower electric bills by bringing in solar and biodiesel plants.

Luther “Brad” Bradford, running for District 3 supervisor, said he would focus on education, which he said was the key to enticing jobs and industry.

“If we have a good education system, we can develop a good workforce,” Bradford said. “We need to work together as one. If we change this, we will change our education system. And if we can change our education system, we can have economic change.”

District 5 candidate Jessie Turner said he brought leadership to the table, and he wanted the community to think globally.

“We don’t have the luxury of hand-picking plants and industries anymore,” Turner said. “We have to be ready. We can’t wait until an industry’s on their way.”

Clarence Love, running for the District 1 seat, said he would like to see the community partner with local educational institutions to create a research facility.

“I’m a librarian. I love research,” Love said. “I want to make sure our county is up-to-date. We are dying industry-wise. I think if we can open our minds we can bring in high-tech industries.”

George Souderes, candidate for District 3, said he thought his long list of certifications and experiences qualified him for the job of a supervisor.

He’s had 29 years of experience as emergency management civil defense director, one of the first in the country, he said. He said his experience with city, county, state and federal governments was good background.

“I do not have numbered one to 10 my platform, but you have my assurance I will be the best supervisor for the future of our county,” he said.

Britt Gibson, candidate for District 3, said his wife, children, home and citizenship of Adams County prompted him to run.

Gibson said he is a vice president of the Cathedral School board and a member of the Kiwanis board, among other things.

“We need to focus on industry, which will help small businesses,” he said. “And we need to focus on our children.”

District 1 candidate Mike Smith said his experience as co-manager of 107.1 The River gave him a good business background.

Smith said that, among other things, he planned to communicate with residents in his district, create activities for children and improve parking and access to polling places.

Trash on the sides of the road was another topic he said he would pursue.

“It’s just disgusting,” Smith said. “We’ve got some places that I’m sure businesses see when they come through.”

James Berry Jr., running for District 5, said he would focus on jobs, education and recreation.

“I thought about it, and you can’t do anything from the outside,” Berry said. “That’s why I’m running.”

Berry said he would try to improve recreation, like building a swimming pool or a state-of-the-art recreation center.

“We need something for kids to do,” he said.

James Gavette, District 4 candidate, said he was more concerned about people’s health than bringing in just any industry.

“I’m against any kind of job that’s dirty or unsafe,” he said. “I think we have to as a community, nation and world clean the world up.”

Gavettes said he would like to see Adams County as a model for education on researching alternative energy sources.

Mike Lazarus, running for District 1, said he was interested in improving education, lowering taxes and recruiting jobs.

“It might take more than four years to get it done, but I think we can move Adams County forward,” he said. “We can do better. I’ll work night and day to do whatever I can.”

Incumbent District 4 supervisor and president of the board Darryl Grennell said his 10 years on the board, serving five as president, was a boon to the county.

“There are 247 duties of a supervisor,” Grennell said. “You don’t learn those overnight. You don’t even learn them after six months on the board. I have the background.”

Grennell said he was proud of helping bring in Rentech and recruiting other industries to Adams County.

Incumbent District 5 supervisor S.E. “Spanky” Felter said he was proud of his voting record and would let it speak for him. He said he worked hard to save residents money by cutting the county government’s spending.

The Federation and DEC will probably hold similar sessions for Democratic candidates in other county races in the coming months, Merrill said.