For the crowd who turned out Tuesday night at Thomasville’s Municipal Auditorium, we hope they heard not what they wanted to hear but what they needed to hear as the Thomasville municipal elections beckon.

Early voting has begun for the city council races, which include the District 2 seat and the at-large seat. 

The questions the five candidates fielded covered a wide range of topics. They were asked their thoughts on such hot-button issues as the city’s gateways, particularly West Jackson Street and Smith Avenue, attracting young people and millennials, the importance of reducing poverty and what can be done to that end, what can be done in terms of job growth and what steps can the city take to procure or establish more affordable housing.  

Attendees asked questions of the candidates for the last 30 minutes, including a query on how the city can become more inclusive for its residents. 

There is no doubt that Thomasville is a great place to live — as Georgia Chamber CEO Chris Clark said last month, when he recalled asking his young staff members to pick their ideal place to reside in Georgia outside of Atlanta, and they chose Thomasville.

When Clark came to Thomasville last month and talked about the area’s future, one of the questions asked was to rate the community in terms of inclusiveness. Nearly half, 48 percent, of those at his presentation said they did not feel the area was inclusive at all. 

Millennials, Clark said, are now the largest workforce in the world. Metro Atlanta’s pool of millennial workers is expected to grow by 25 percent; rural Georgia’s is projected to shrink by 3 percent, leading to what Clark called “the rural brain drain.”

With the forum ending at 9 p.m., there were some questions that were left unasked. One that was left in the on-deck circle and still could be asked of the candidates as they make their rounds around town is how would they improve relations with the county. Another question that did not get asked at the forum, but also bears being posited, is what is each candidate’s vision for a possible events center.

We have had coverage of the forum in this week’s editions of the Times-Enterprise, so we suggest going through those accounts. We also will have profiles of each of the candidates and we hope you find those useful as you consider for whom to vote.

Many of the candidates are out and about. We encourage you to seek them out and discuss their vision — and yours as well — for the city and its future. We hope you take advantage of the ease and convenience of early voting and if you can’t, we hope you take the time to cast your ballot on election day.