Interaction between citizens and the officials they elect to represent them is crucial to a democracy.

Citizens must be able to tell the officials what they want and what they don’t want. They must also be able to hold the officials responsible for their actions.

The elected officials must explain to the citizens why they take the actions they do.

In Fort Dodge there has been an event in place for at least 20 years that brings state, and sometimes federal, legislators, together with citizens. It’s called Eggs and Issues.

Eggs and Issues is a forum that is held once a month while the Iowa legislature is in session. The first forum will be held this afternoon.

But because of COVID-19, the forum will be a lot different from previous versions. No one will be sitting in an auditorium at Iowa Central Community College on a Saturday morning to hear the legislators in person. Instead, the forum will be an entirely online experience.

It will begin at 1 p.m. today. It can be viewed on the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance’s Youtube channel. That channel can be found at www.youtube.com/user/GreaterFortDodge.

Questions for the lawmakers should be submitted before the forum starts. Questions can be submitted by emailing them to jill@greaterfortdodge.com or by texting them to (515) 207-2486.

During the forum, the legislators will give opening statements about issues and bills they are working on. Then they will answer the questions submitted by the public.

The give and take between the legislators and the citizens is democracy at work.

It is something that everyone should want to be part of.

We encourage everyone to participate in their democracy by watching Eggs and Issues and submitting questions for the lawmakers.