In Page County, several candidates for local offices met at a forum Tuesday. People in the county will vote in two weeks for a sheriff, among other positions.

Former Sheriff Daniel Presgraves resigned early this year, following a criminal investigation. He awaits sentencing after entering a guilty plea in August in a federal racketeering case.

The campaign for sheriff has lasted for months. Interim Sheriff John Thomas wants to keep his job. At Tuesday's forum, he spoke about his efforts to restore confidence in the office.

"So, what we have done is, we have restored the integrity of the agency. We have got the guys' morale back up to where it was. It's basically a very good police agency," says Thomas.

Shenandoah Police Chief Pete Monteleone is running against Thomas. He says he was not able to attend to the forum due to a previous commitment.

"In a case like this, it is good to have someone from outside the department come in. That's where I feel that my strength is, that I have the administrative experience in Page County," says Monteleone.

As chief for more than nine years, Monteleone has had experience with budget cuts.

"I want to put much emphasis on working on cutting the ballooned budget that exists [in the sheriff's office] currently," says Monteleone.

Sheriff's office employees recently took a pay cut due to falling local revenue.

"We will streamline the upper echelon of the agency in order to put more people on the street because we've gotten a little bit top-heavy," says Thomas.

Even with cutbacks, both pledge to boost programs for youth as a way to deter crime.

"Instead of an event once a year, I think that it's very important to try to set up programs where you are with the children weekly, monthly, on a more regular basis," says Monteleone.

"I'd like to get a middle school mentoring program going. Middle school has nothing, and middle school is where they really need that mentoring experience," says Thomas.

Both men also say a top priority is drug enforcement. They want to keep and improve on partnerships with federal and state investigators.