EXCELSIOR SPRINGS – Three candidates are competing for two Excelsior Springs Board of Education seats. The public will cast ballots April 5 for the two candidates whose views best fit what voters want. Directions asked each candidate to start answers with a “yes” or “no,” so readers would understand the candidate’s thinking. Directions informed candidates an “X” would designate the option not to answer yes or no. Each candidate had a word limit to their answers. Out of all the candidates running in municipal elections in Excelsior Springs and across Ray County, two – Excelsior Springs Board of Education incumbents Charles “Tray” Harkins and Kayln Goode – wrote brief essays that did not answer questions directly or, in some cases, even indirectly. “I know this isn’t exactly what you asked for, but it is what I’m submitting,” Goode wrote. Harkins answered policy questions with a yes or no, but Goode did not. Under the circumstances, the newspaper tried to use the essay information…