Every so often, something happens to remind us that there’s more to government than the insanity we’re exposed to daily from too many politicians in Washington, D.C.

Several of those moments came this past week during candidate forums at Ellsworth and Wilson.

Candidates were thoughtful, civil and stuck to the issues. At Ellsworth, they didn’t do the side step when someone asked them whether a tax increase would be necessary to update the city’s aging infrastructure.

“If we’re going to gain on the situation, there’s no way around it,” said Wayne Scritchfield, who is seeking re-election to the Ellsworth City Council.“I think we’re going to have to have an increase in city funding.”

Fellow candidates Darcy Peschka Hanson and Michael Hunt voiced similar thoughts.

The value of working together — with others in your community and other towns — was a reoccurring theme at Wilson.

“We may not have it all together, but together we have it all,” Jessica Loveland, a write-in candidate for mayor said in branding her effort to lead the city.

About a week ago, an article in the New York Times caught our attention. It was entitled “The Politics of Self Defeat” and was written by an Arkansas journalist about her hometown. The article challenged our belief in rural America and the quality of life it is capable of offering.

The New York Times article was dark, mostly because of the comments from residents who were interviewed. Instead of looking to the future, they continued to cling to the past. Several even wondered out loud whether the taxes they pay for education were necessary or even helpful. After all, many of them no longer had children in school. Why must they support something they no longer needed?

If the article is accurate, the phrase “common good” has been abandoned by a number of residents in a small town in Arkansas.

That does not appear to be the case with this year’s crop of local candidates. We had the impression these people put their names on the Nov. 5 ballot because they want to make their towns and their school districts better places.

In a perfect world, we should be able to say that about any candidate that seeks public office. Unfortunately, that seems to become more difficult with each election.