We are at the beginning of an election season.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for Martin County, the City of Stuart, and the Village of Indiantown. The voters will be offered important choices of candidates to determine our future. I haven’t seen a more critical election in the 20 plus years I have been voting here.

The candidates have distinct personalities and beliefs. At least one is a very dangerous choice. No one candidate is the perfect choice that I or you would agree with their every decision.

Friends & Neighbors has not endorsed candidates in the past. We won’t this year. However I will tell you whom I am voting for or would vote for if I lived in their jurisdiction. I will explain why I made those choices.

We will still invite the candidates to send us a statement of why they are running and what they intend to do. It will be in their own words without being edited. We will start running their submissions after the qualifying period from early to mid-June. I will be contacting the candidates using the email addresses listed on their official paperwork. If it is incorrect or is not a regularly used email, then they should contact me directly with their submissions.

In this week’s edition, we start out with a story explaining to the reader what is going on with Brightline. It is much more complicated than what Little Boss Reed and some believe.

We have all our columnists giving their perspectives on various subjects. Clay Scherer explains a true democracy, Switzerland. Pastor Chad on listening and understanding, Stacy Ranieri on imposter syndrome, MCTA on Quiet Zones, and all the rest of our great columnists.

So, sit back, begin reading and perusing, and pour another cup of coffee.

Have a great Sunday Morning!