Preparing, debating, and approving the state budget is one of the most important thing we do as legislators each year.

What a difference a year makes.

A week after Tuesday’s municipal election in Seneca, the newly-elected City Council members will be sworn into and take part in their first council meeting next week.

Voters in Seneca showed they wanted at least a little bit of change in Tuesday’s municipal election, picking two challengers and two incumbents for the four City Council seats in unofficial results that will be certified today.

Healthy debate is an important part of a healthy democratic society. We understand that everyone will not agree with every opinion on this page.

Over the last two weeks, members of the editorial board at The Journal met with all eight candidates vying for the Seneca City Council positions. In nearly every case, we spent roughly an hour just chatting, asking questions and getting to know each other better.

If you’re not utterly confused with what’s going on with the Oconee Medical Center and Greenville Health System talks by now, then you haven’t been reading very much.

It is sometimes amazing what kind of information a contested political campaign can suddenly provide.

It may seem that lately we haven’t found ourselves agreeing with the Oconee County Council as a whole body very often, but it hasn’t always been that way.

We still seem to find ourselves with more questions than answers in relation to the future of healthcare here in Oconee County.