Bethany’s new mayor, Thom Furbee, is hitting the ground running only a few weeks into his new position.

While no stranger to local politics, having previously served as a member of the town’s council for 10 years and holding a prior appointment to the sanitation commission, Furbee has noted he doesn’t have all of the answers and is looking to the community he serves for suggestions.

This week, he hosted a town hall meeting at Bethany Memorial Church, inviting town residents to sit down and talk about their concerns, ask questions and offer suggestions for possible projects the town can undertake.

It’s an approach more public officials could take to heart.

All too often, unless you happen to run into them in public, the main opportunity to address elected officials is during a meeting of your local council, county commission or school board. Those instances, though, typically have rules, including time limits and not allowing for a back-and-forth discussion.

Those rules are there to assist in the flow of the meetings as governmental bodies conduct their business, but there should be opportunities for residents to get more in-depth discussions with the people elected to represent them.

That’s where town halls, such as the one held in Bethany Wednesday, are valuable.

Such gatherings provide not only more time than is available at a council meeting, but an opportunity for dialogue and detail.

In a time when social media often takes over the discourse, but also can be ignored by elected officials, these meetings are public and in-person, they can focus on a particular topic or offer time to bring up a variety of concerns.

It’s something which has been promoted many times over the years — all of the communities across the region should consider offering similar forums.

Whether it be a mayor, or individual members of council, county commissioners or representatives to the state Legislature, residents benefit when these meetings are held.