As we said in Tuesday’s editorial, we hope for an election year fought on the issues, with thoughtful consideration of solutions to the problems we face as a city, a county and a society.

What we seek from those we elect to office is solutions, vision and the passion to make the area they represent better when they leave office than it was when they took office.

But as we seek solutions, as we narrow down the main issues, it would be interesting to know what the voters in Selma, Dallas County and the Black Belt consider to be the number one issue.

There is little doubt one of the top issues will be education, both how our systems are funded and managed. There will be discussions — or at least there should be — on the standards and results we expect from our school systems. These expectations should not be limited to the graduation rates — which must be improved — but the quality of graduates our systems produce.

Other issues that must be discussed include ways to better fund, better staff our public safety agencies; and how to improve the marketability of our region to new industries, new employers and new residents.

These are the issues that easily come to mind, let us hope their discussion is not lost in the frivolous “stuff” that usually surrounds elections. If we can honestly debate the issues and find solutions, it would be a nice change from the norm.