Right choice: Council incumbents needed to be at city meeting

It is unfortunate that the NAACP's candidate forum was the same night as the Goldsboro City Council meeting.

Residents should have had access to all those who want to represent them.

But in no way should any of the incumbent council members who are running for re-election or another office this October and November be penalized for not attending.

The bottom is -- they were where they were supposed to be.

It is critically important that those who are charged with representing their community be at the meetings to discuss issues the city faces.

They were elected to be there, and they should be, no matter what (barring a serious personal disaster or illness). And if they can't be, they should not hold the job.

So while all of the candidates would have liked to be at the forum Tuesday -- they couldn't attend because they promised their constituents they would be somewhere else.

And that was the right choice.

Published in Editorials on September 10, 2015 10:54 AM