For the past three meetings, the Demopolis City Council has struggled to fill a void on the city’s board of education, including Thursday, when councilman Melvin Yelverton asked the measure be tabled. Fellow council member Jack Cooley told the council that Yelverton had good cause to table the decision.

In each of the previous two meetings, the council has been split in voting for the nominees. We challenge the council to spend the weeks leading up to its next council meeting engaged in serious and meaningful debate regarding its appointment. The next meeting is set for Thursday, June 3. That’s 12 days from now.

Our new superintendent is only a few days away from arranging the furniture in his office, and this issue has been lingering for nearly a month.

Demopolis is awash in perfectly qualified candidates to fill this vacancy. We need someone well versed in finances, with budgeting, someone familiar with our city and our schools and someone we can trust to make educated and informed decisions. Many of these people walk among us.

We encourage the mayor and council to find its common ground before June 3 and make its appointment without further delay.