This coming Thursday, The Greenville Advocate will host a forum for candidates of the upcoming election. The forum will focus on all candidates including Butler County Sheriff, Butler County Board of Education, district judges, tax collector, etc.

The idea for the forum is to give residents of Butler County an opportunity to hear the platform of each of the candidates that could be representing their district. Prior to this forum, there has not been an opportunity for the public as a whole to gather in one place with all candidates and ask questions that we, as residents, find to be the most important.

Although campaigning door-to-door is a good method of meeting residents face-to-face, finding all people at home is often a problem. Candidates work very hard to find out what issues are important to residents of the district, and this will give them yet another opportunity to address the issues that are most important to residents.

It is important for the electorate and candidates to have time with one another because making Butler County the best place to live should be the shared goal for us all. Issues such as revenue, taxes and education are all aspects that affect each of us on an every day basis.

Take, for example, the ad valorem tax. Children of Butler County deserve a solid education so that they can be competitive with their peers in the job market. It was by the people that the ad valorem tax was passed, and during that time, representation by officials in the county was very important.

The forum is open to all candidates, who will be contacted. The forum will be in question-and-answer form and we are depending on the public to help guide us on the issues they feel are most important.

Questions may be submitted to The Greenville Advocate by e-mail at eric.bishop@greenvilleadvocate.com, by fax at 382-7104, by phone at (334) 382-3111 ext. 125, in person at 103 Hickory Street, or by mail at P.O. Box 507, Greenville, Alabama 36037. The deadline for question submissions is Thursday, May 30 at noon. We look forward to receiving your input.