Three men running for District 2 supervisor all said Monday they wanted to retain the rural flavor of south Nevada County with improved roads and enough services and stores to keep spending local.

Bob Joehnck, Ed Scofield and Alan Kilborn squared off at a forum put on by the League of Women Voters of Western Nevada County. The men are running for the seat being vacated by Sue Horne, who is now running for the state Assembly.

In opening statements, Kilborn said he has been "tested under combat" in Vietnam and was "raised by Texans and Oklahomans who taught me Midwestern values."

Scofield said he was a "Nevada County native" who believes in "reasonable growth with private property rights."

Joehnck said, "We need limited growth," and didn't want to see the Higgins Corner area become like neighboring towns in Placer County.

Scofield has been chief executive officer of the Nevada County Fair for the past 25 years. The former Grass Valley City Council member has also served as president of the Grass Valley Rotary and the Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce.

Kilborn, a businessman, is also a reserve policeman. He is a decorated veteran and serves on the county's Local Agency Formation Commission handling annexation, land use and utility issues. He is also on the county's Hazardous and Solid Waste Commission.

Land use attorney Joehnck specializes in local government and environmental issues. He was once an attorney for the California Housing Finance Agency and senior in-house counsel for the state department administering the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act.

Editor's Note: More questions and answers from the District 2 candidates forum will be presented in The Union in the near future.

To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.