Thursday night’s Meet the Candidates forum, hosted by the Concerned Citizens of the Burlington Area, was a success on two fronts.

The first being all candidates running for county commission, as well as several unopposed candidates, showed up to meet their voters face to face.

The second, being that many voters attended to hear what those candidates had to say.

And really, the event could only be a success if both those conditions were met, and, thankfully they were.

Many people across Lawrence County have seen campaign signs pop up along roadways and in yards, and they have no doubt had a knock on their front doors from someone asking for their vote.

And while that’s all part of running a campaign, nothing quite has the same impact as hearing candidates speak in a public forum setting.

For those who missed Thursday’s event, there will be another opportunity to hear commission candidates speak at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bowman Auditorium of Ohio University Southern.

This forum, hosted by the AFSCME Local 3319, will be slightly different in that candidates will field questions posed by union employees.

Just like for the primary on March 15, voter turnout for this forum is extremely important. The only way to get to know the candidates who will best run this county is by hearing how they respond to off-the-cuff questions from, essentially, their future employees.

While it is important to hear how candidates feel about the issues facing Lawrence County, it is even more important to hear those candidates give solutions.

Hopefully, each candidate will come prepared to talk about those solutions on Tuesday.