The Franklin County Consortium for Good Government, a coalition of non-partisan organizations in Central Ohio, is again organizing “Meet the Candidates” Forums in Franklin County and nearby communities.

The Franklin County Consortium for Good Government, (“Consortium”), is an unincorporated organization in Franklin County, Ohio.

The organization began when, in 1991, Brookwood Presbyterian Church joined with the National Council of Jewish Women to start a candidates night for Columbus. In successive years, the Columbus Jewish Federation joined the coalition to produce candidates nights as did many churches, synagogues, civic associations, and cultural organizations. Because the scope of the candidates nights became county-wide, the name “The Franklin County Consortium for Good Government” was adopted by all organizations then participating in the candidates night.

The objective of the Consortium is to educate the voters and potential voters of Franklin County about the candidates in contested races and, when appropriate, issues by setting up and publicizing non-partisan candidates nights at various sites in Franklin County.

At a “Meet the Candidates” Forum, members of the public can meet and question the candidates who are running for public offices. The Consortium invites all candidates who are running in a contested race to at least one of the candidates’ forums. We may also invite proponents and opponents of issues to the forums depending on decisions by the governing board of the Consortium.

This year the Consortium will hold “Meet the Candidates” Forums in widely separated geographical sites so that people in most electoral areas will be provided with a convenient place to view candidates.

The Consortium works both to increase the public’s knowledge about candidates and issues, and to remind central Ohioans that if we wish to have a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” we must educate ourselves about all the candidates and then utilize our constitutional right to vote.