This is an enthusiastic thank you to a whole lot of people in Richmond Hill for the October 17 City Council candidate forum, conducted by the League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia.

First, thank you to the candidates—David T. London, Les Fussell, Chuck Moss, Steve Scholar— who committed to come and field questions submitted by the community, and to share their ideas for the future of Richmond Hill.

Second, thank you to the standing-room only crowd of interested citizens who came out to learn and to participate in this most basic requirement of a strong democracy: informed voters. Now GO VOTE.

Third, thank you to our partners: Bryan County News. We are blessed and proud to have a truly local newspaper; and One Hundred Miles, an energetic and effective advocate for environmental issues on our Georgia coast.

if you were unable to be at Love’s Seafood Restaurant for the event, you missed a political party as it should be. With chief volunteer Wendy Bolton at the helm of the event, success was a given.

 A Meet the- Candidates opening, with great music by Tia and Company, fabulous seafood from Love’s, hosted by a group of citizens, and lots of good conversation among neighbors, all leading up to the main event, the LWVCG Candidate Forum. With laughter and good will punctuating the evening, Mark Bolton, moderator, and Paul Thurston, timekeeper— replete with mini-traffic light and donning a striped referee’s shirt, kept the action moving os that thoughtful information from the candidates was fairly and equitably delivered.

This is a model of what good politics can be: engaging, important, and civil, and non-partisan, all major major tenets of the 99-year-old League.

 If you want more information, check out the Voters Guide in the Bryan County News and on the LWVCGA website,lwvcga.org.

Thank you all— now, go VOTE, early voting, or on Election Day, November 5.

Sincerely, Rena Patton,

 Board of Directors League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia