Recently, I attended a candidate’s forum hosted by the Maine Children’s Alliance — a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for Maine’s children, youth and families by providing unbiased data for sound public policy.

It was sad that not a single Republican representative attended.

Ten Democratic candidates spoke eloquently of the importance of investing in early childhood education, providing access to health care and education as a means to reducing poverty in our region.

The staff from Maine Children’s Alliance facilitated an excellent forum with audience participation, but it is too bad the Republican representatives did not participate, especially since the last state budget adversely affected children and the most vulnerable citizens.

Next year, the Legislature will need to figure out how to pay for a $400 million tax cut and, once again, services to this population will come under the gun.

There needs to be accountability for the actions of our elected officials if they want to represent the citizens of Androscoggin County going forward. They need to speak and interact with those who are affected by their decisions.

Our democracy works best when there is dialog and accountability.

Denis Bergeron, Auburn