Michael Loconto, former Boston School Committee chairperson, resigned Thursday after he appeared to mock the names of participants in a public comment portion of a meeting Wednesday night.

Loconto mistakenly forgot to turn off his microphone while saying, “That was like Shania, Shanaya, Shanay-nay, and Boo Boo and David, right?” He then claimed this mockery was pointed toward a children’s book.

A children’s book. That’s a first.

It would not be a stretch to believe Loconto was caught in his own lie, and resorted to an odd and faked excuse for his actions. Instead of immediately owning up to his racist, inappropriate words, he chose to cowardly deflect them.

Whether he intended to utter them publicly or not, Loconto’s true values have been revealed, and community members can assume this was a normal, comfortable action for him.

To casually mock the names of your constituents is to directly disrespect them.

Now, the Boston community is left to wonder what other bigoted sentiments local officials say or believe behind closed doors, when the residents they serve are not present to hold them accountable.

Elected officials must always answer to the discipline of their constituents. Only then will we be able to ensure they continue their work toward a genuine respect for the cultures and experiences their diverse neighbors bring to the community.

In this situation, we saw a rather quick turnaround between the disrespectful display of racism and tangible accountability. Boston residents and representatives took to social media to voice their concerns, hurt and anger over the situation — and their pressure successfully led to Loconto’s resignation.

Residents of a city or town have a special power to hold municipal governments accountable.

Local officials are likely to know their constituents on a much personal level. They interact with each other in meetings, discuss concerns in town halls and foster a communicative relationship essential to decision-making. So when something such as this occurs, it is that much more insulting and painful to witness.

Locals bring forth a passion for their community that makes elected officials listen to their voice. This passion can fall short, however, when people then try to enact change at a federal level.

Federal officials represent a much broader array of people, and there is a strong partisan divide between those people. With national politics, officials can often scapegoat accountability by claiming they are just receiving biased opposition from the other side.

So when we witness unacceptable actions there, it is difficult to effect any change. Our collective voice gets lost in the back-and-forth between two dominant sides, and our arguments are successfully watered down.

But at the local level, our voice is concentrated, and thus more effective. Particularly in Massachusetts, residents tend to lean much more liberal, and the progressive ideologies we often support make us more inclined to recognize actions such as Loconto’s to be simply unacceptable.

Local school committees, meanwhile, have the benefit of relative nonpartisanship. Representatives share a common goal of improving the school system, and politics are not as heavily infused into decisions. This enables them to truly focus on solutions over party platforms.

So if they are failing us, the only way for us to address the problems caused by ignorant elected officials is to advocate and vote for more diverse candidates who will have a better understanding of their constituents. And we must always hold elected officials accountable.

We were lucky to catch Loconto behind a computer screen. But our work is not over yet. We must continue to keep our eyes and ears open to how our representatives act off the record.

Boston is a city rich with diverse backgrounds and culture. It deserves to be served by those who appreciate these attributes instead of diminishing them down to a joke.