One of the biggest obstacles, other than apathy, to local political participation is time. Many residents lead busy lives. When the ol' clock on the wall says it's quitting time, they're just glad to get home, hug the dog, pet the kids, kiss the spouse and settle in for a breather before it all starts over again the next day.

Occasionally, however, a local issue comes up that demands a visit to the local city council meeting. Now, thanks to a vote by the Fayetteville City Council, that might mean a resident has to ask the boss for permission to leave early to be involved in local government.

Last week, after practically no discussion, the council voted 7-1 to support Alderman Martin Schoppmeyer's proposal to shift meeting times from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This comes 11 years after the City Council backed up the meeting time from 6:30 to 6 p.m.

Based on the rapid progression of the vote and the shift to the earlier meeting time, one can safely assume at least some members of the City Council don't particularly care for sticking around City Hall well into the evenings to discuss city business. They must have better things to do in their unelected lives, things more important than ensuring their constituents can get to City Hall in time to be heard on important matters. Is it Jimmy Fallon, or anticipation for Stephen Colbert's debut on "The Late Show?"

Alderman already meet for their agenda sessions at 4:30 p.m. every other week. One could get an idea public participation isn't on the City Council's list of priorities. But this is Fayetteville, where sometimes the process that determines public policy is embraced as being as important, if not more, than the outcome of the debate itself. Surely no one would want to deprive Fayetteville constituents of that process, right?

Schoppmeyer's only comment regarding his push for a change was that he wanted the meeting times of the Fayetteville Planning Commission and the City Council to match up. That the times of those meetings have nothing to do with each other apparently didn't matter. Case closed.

Most of the brief discussion centered on the aldermen and their needs. Justin Tennant and Mark Kinion did raise the concern that residents might not have time to get to meetings from work, but drew the line at 5:30 p.m. No earlier, they said.

The City Council's decision does put a greater burden on the regular citizens who want to participate, which is probably not something representative government should be eager to do. Meeting times should be geared toward the greatest level of participation by the public. If any of the eight aldermen don't like hanging around until the work is done, they shouldn't run for City Council.

We don't expect the City Council to suddenly shift back now. But aldermen owe it to their citizens to make sure issues certain to spark public discussion are not placed so early on the agenda that working people can't possibly participate.

Surely, there's still time in Fayetteville for a healthy debate.