Public deserves appreciation for participating

Published 11:36 pm Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Area residents got a chance to see and hear the two candidates vying to be Dalton’s next mayor, Miller Jones and Dennis Mock, at a forum Tuesday night at City Hall.

For many, it was their first opportunity to hear what the men have in mind for the future of our city. So it was great to see a packed house full of people taking an interest in what the candidates had to say.

The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Dalton Area and The Daily Citizen. One of the candidates will serve out the final year of former mayor David Pennington’s term. Pennington stepped down earlier this year for an unsuccessful run for governor. The city is holding a special election on Nov. 4, which also is Election Day for state and local races, to fill the remainder of that term.

For the past couple of weeks, the public was asked, including in this space, to submit questions to the League or this newspaper for the candidates, and they submitted many pertinent questions. Those who submitted questions, as well as those who attended the forum, are no doubt voters who are both curious about the two men as well as vested in plans for Dalton’s future.

Although the City Council is set up as a “weak mayor” system (for example, the mayor generally doesn’t vote on council matters except to break a tie), a strong-willed mayor can set the tone for his administration and beyond. We saw this occur with Pennington.

We’d like to thank Jones and Mock for agreeing to participate in the forum. We’d also like to thank the League of Women Voters for partnering with us, and we’d like to thank the City Council for allowing us to use City Hall for the forum.

But we’d really like to express our appreciation to those members of the public who took an hour or so of their time — on a weeknight — to engage in this important civic opportunity.

We hope the large turnout Tuesday night means we will see a large turnout on Election Day.