We have stated before in this space that Channel 23, the county's government access channel, in our opinion, belongs to the residents of the county and should be used as the residents of the county feel appropriate. After all, taxpayer funds keep Channel 23 going.

Apparently BOC Chairman Richard Oden and Post 1 Commissioner Oz Nesbitt don't feel the same way.

The current issue is that the local Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce and Rockdale-Newton League of Women Voters wish to present a public forum involving all of the local candidates, including Oden and Nesbitt.

The request by the two organizations was turned down because of budget and policy concerns, according to county authorities.

We don't accept that as a reason to not let the people of our county see and listen to the candidates share their views on how they intend to help our county grow through this slow economy.

This week, Commissioner JaNice Van Ness made a motion that included giving up some of her budgeted training and travel expense to allow the forum to be telecast.

The motion died for lack of a second.

This question began well before July 31. The candidate forum is Oct. 4. If the issue truly was to draft a policy that would be fair to all groups, that could have been done by now.

We are more than disappointed with the decision of Chairman Oden and Commissioner Nesbitt to hide behind the curtain of red tape.

The Chairman and Post 1 Commissioner need to understand that the governmental access channel should be used for the education of all the residents of the county, especially at election time.