Congratulations to the victors of the 2014 general election, and our thanks go out to all the candidates win or lose for participating in the American democratic tradition. You all have the gratitude of the public for sharing your views, airing the issues and getting the community dialogue going.

There may be some dirt and other negativity that comes to mind when thinking about campaign season but, for those paying attention to the whole picture, most of the debate was positive, level-minded and quite helpful for making a voting choice.

We urge candidates who won to take seriously the responsibilities of public service the voters have granted you. Be mindful that the public indeed will hold you accountable good or bad, and remember the general public is more intelligent than most folks give them credit for. They are not sheep. They are real people with real concerns. Often we all want the same things — such as a better community, region, state, nation and such — but see different means for accomplishing the jobs.

We also ask candidates to begin to heal the wounds from bitter and nasty divides that appeared during the campaign season so that the community and its leaders can move on to the tasks of running government agencies soundly in 2015 and beyond. Holding grudges over the views aired during the campaign season does nothing to move the community forward. We have seen less and less of this each time, and that’s been a good trend.

Most of all, we thank the voters for going to the polls and providing the necessary feedback for shaping the future of our community. Voting is a civic duty and a human right, but too few people exercise that duty and right.