The right to sign a petition was so important to our Founding Fathers that they made it part of the original Constitution.

It's a right that is important to 26 dozen verified Logansport residents who have signed a petition demanding that Mayor Chris Martin resign and that the Logansport City Council replace him with a professionally-trained, independent and certified city manager.

To be clear, the reasons originally stated in the petition months ago still hold true. Downtown is deteriorating economically even as the community foundation has funded a farmer's market square and the Indianapolis Art Museum has acquired the Eagles. No new industry has come to the Cass/Logan Industrial Park. The county continues to be among the 20 worst in Indiana in unemployment and population is projected to decline.

But it is the reputation of the city that is hurting, particularly when the mayor does not show up for work during normal business hours, the city council is preparing to implement a time clock because of allegations of ghost employment and transparency is lacking in threatened legal action against the city involving the mayor's negotiations for lodging at the Super 8 Motel.

Logansport and its citizens deserve better. In this non-election year, it's important for local residents to elect to do what they can to remedy this situation.

Please sign and share our petition and do what our forefathers wanted us to do long after they were gone. Thank you for caring for Logansport and our city's future.