As a recognized Connecticut Civically Engaged Organization (CEO), The Newtown Bee is committed to presenting fair, balanced, responsible, engaging, and non-confrontational content we hope will inform residents and spur them to register to vote if they have not already done so. We hope they will then complete a mail-in or absentee ballot, or vote locally and in person on Election Day.

To help residents and voters learn as much as possible about the candidates they will hopefully consider endorsing on the ballot November 5, The Bee starting last year initiated a very limited compromise for the election season to its long-standing policy of keeping endorsement letters in our Letter Hive to 300 words or less: We are again permitting any candidate on the ballot to submit a single letter of self-introduction of up to 500 words up until the edition of October 25.

We believe these letters, many of which have already started running and are available for review at newtownbee.com, will complement our two-week presentation of political profiles scheduled to run in early to mid October. Requests for, and formatting of, those profiles have already circulated to all candidates through their town committees, and have been issued to the individual candidates who qualified to run on separate ballot lines.

With the specifics on endorsement letter length reiterated above, we must also remind anyone contributing a letter of endorsement about our stated requirement to provide your residential address and contact phone number. This information is never disclosed, and will only be used for verification when and if required, or if we must make the sender aware of an issue that may affect their letter being published in a timely manner. The omission of one’s address and phone number could delay or prevent a letter from running as planned.

We have also been queried about whether The Bee will be holding some type of in-person or virtual debate or forum ahead of November 5. Last year we conducted round table interviews with the two candidates for first selectman rather than do debates. This year, unfortunately, we have arrived at the decision given the turnover in staff here at The Newtown Bee, that planning, arranging, and executing something as time-consuming as a candidate debate is beyond the time available to its current staff. The Bee will gladly cover a debate if another organization hosts one, however.

Moving on, we understand our Letter Hive contributors and the opinions they express are their own, but this newspaper will not be a party to political mudslinging nor any type of general or specific negative attacks on candidates, the organizations they represent, nor their political or personal beliefs. If you have something negative to say, promote it elsewhere. If we detect such content in letters or online comments going forward, they will not be published.

Letters that do not attack, but may appropriately question or critique positions of specific candidates or the parties they represent — which might prompt or require a written rebuttal from candidates or those with differing political views — will not be considered for publication in the October 25 edition nor online at newtownbee.com.

Finally we reminder readers that while the deadline for letters is noon sharp each Wednesday, we appreciate letters being sent in as soon as possible.

As to more recent policy changes, the requirement for there to be two or less signatories on any letter went into effect on September 1. Going forward, any letter with three or more people signing will be contacted to reduce it to two or fewer.

The website requirement for posting under a first and last name has continued to hit a hitch on the back end and is continued to be delayed. We hope to have it before the first of October, but until then, user names will be allowed on posts. We apologize to the many who requested and were looking forward to the requirement that commenters on our website identify themselves rather than post anonymously, we are just as eagerly anticipating the change.

Borrowing from one of our national partners, Trusting News, we remind all readers that The Newtown Bee pledges to always engage in journalism to serve the community, democracy, and the truth. When we are reporting on candidates and the upcoming local elections, we will endeavor at all costs to be humble — we certainly don’t know everything.

Finally, please be reminded, as we are, that our society is complex, diverse, and fast-changing. No one is the final arbiter of truth; no one has arrived at perfect humanity, you included.