Congratulations to the Valley Grande City Council for making the right choice — and the only choice — in selecting Gene Middlebrooks to the city council this week.

In a unanimous decision, sitting members of the city council approved Middlebrooks to serve out the remaining term of the Place 1 seat once held by his wife, Marie.

Marie’s term — and her life — was unexpectedly cut short when she passed away in late April.

Gene, who served on the council once before, said in a Times-Journal article Tuesday that his wife would be happy that he was once again on the council.

“She would be pleased. She came to almost every meeting when I served on the council before and I supported her when she was on the council,” Gene said. “It’s a thing we’ve done together.”

In the past, we have strongly supported cities and towns filling open council positions through a special election because it was the best way to gauge the will of the people when having someone represent them in government. Such is the case in Selma with the ongoing Ward 3 election.

But, when it came to the opening in Valley Grande, time constraints led us to support the council’s move to appoint someone to fill out the remainder of Marie’s term.

With municipal elections barely over a year away, holding a special election would not have made sense, especially considering delays and notices that extend such a process. The Ward 3 opening in Selma has been vacant since January and we are just now closing in on a final decision. Even though the other candidates for the Valley Grande appointment were no doubt fine, civic-minded people, the selection of Gene was the right one for the council and the right one for Valley Grande.