To the editor:

The Voter Education Coalition is comprised of over 18 community groups representing a diversity of political views whose goal is to promote civil dialogue and broad participation of citizens and candidates through community forums. The coalition would like to extend our gratitude to each of the 15 candidates who recently ran for City Commission or school board.

While the decision to seek office is a personal one, conducting a campaign is a very public endeavor. Candidates sacrifice their privacy, time and financial resources for the privilege of being scrutinized, questioned and challenged on their positions and experiences. Throughout the City Commission and school board races, candidates presented themselves to the community in a positive manner. The absence of negative campaigning reflected positively on the candidates and our community and demonstrated the willingness of our leadership to work together.

Both the school board and the City Commission will face difficult decisions exacerbated by the economic crisis. If the campaign is an indicator of behavior, we can be assured of a thoughtful decision-making process! Our community is better for having had such a rich field of candidates from whom to choose. We wish them well.