What about our streets?

What about our fire department?

What about Bridge View Center?

What about a casino?

That’s just four topics likely to come up at the Courier’s second forum planned next week.

The candidate forum will feature the six city council and two mayoral candidates.

We’ll ask questions of the candidates, and we’ll also allow time for the candidates to question each other on various issues.

The Courier also held a forum prior to the primary election held earlier this month.

We appreciated the candidates’ willingness to appear on stage to answer questions, and to the audience members who attended.

Our next forum will start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27 in the theater at Bridge View Center.

We hope that all Ottumwa voters continue to study the city’s issues and the candidates’ stance on those issues.

The election of three council members makes this a critical election as to the future of our city. Three of the five council members can be the majority when issues are decided.

The mayoral race is equally important, as the mayor not only presides over the council, he also represents our city to the rest of the state.

We need informed, hard-working city leaders to make the best decisions to keep Ottumwa thriving and growing.

We hope you attend Tuesday night’s meeting.