In recent months, submissions from readers to our opinion page have slowed down, which causes great consternation for the editorial staff of this newspaper. There’s the obvious challenge it creates for us in attempting to fill space on this page three times a week. But more importantly, we want this page to be a place of varied and contrasting viewpoints on matters that affect our community at large.

To that end, we have recently reached out to several members of the community who hold key positions that affect the policies and future prosperity of our community. We have reached out to school superintendents, county and city administrators and elected officials as well as business and economic development leaders, asking them to provide an insiders’ perspective into their roles and responsibilities as well as the challenges and opportunities each of them are currently faced with.

The first such column, which is written by Franklin City Public Schools’ superintendent Dr. Michelle Belle, debuts on this page today. Columns submitted by other local officials will soon follow.

We hope that this is the beginning of a new and more open dialogue between our elected and appointed office holders and the citizens whose interests they serve. We also hope it will lead our readers to share their views in kind.