WEATHER
I’ve written about this in my column more than once before, but I think it bears repeating: I have great respect for people who are actively involved in their communities.
It’s one of the first things I noticed when I moved to Gig Harbor, and it’s something that’s been consistently present in my work at the Gateway. People in this city like to get involved.
There are high school students who raise money through their senior projects — the Whoa Show dance performance and the car show at Gig Harbor High School this weekend are examples — or local groups who hold fund-raisers to benefit local organizations, such as the event next week at Canterwood Golf & Country Club that will help the new Boys & Girls Club.
Those are admirable efforts for admirable causes.
That being said, I’d also like to offer a suggestion: There is more than one way to get involved or take an interest in our communities. Raising money is helpful — there’s no question about that — and donating to charitable causes is a generous act.
But I’d like to see less action, and more talk from some of the local residents.
Let me explain: Part of my job means attending a number of public meetings in Gig Harbor, whether it’s a monthly Peninsula School District Board of Directors meeting or an occasional toll recommendation discussion by the Citizen Advisory Committee.
And I’m disappointed that more people — just regular citizens — don’t show up for those meetings. Those events tend to be empty, except for myself, local officials and a couple of concerned citizens.
Residents of Washington state are lucky. There’s a law here, Chapter 42.30 of the Registered Code of Washington, that says that all meetings conducted by “public commissions, boards, councils, committees, subcommittees, departments, divisions, offices, and all other public agencies of this state and subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of this chapter that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.”
In plain English, it’s called the Open Public Meetings Act, and it means when our local officials come together to talk about issues, we’re all allowed to be there.
It doesn’t mean we can tell them what to decide or what to say, but it means that, in most cases, we’re allowed to offer our opinions, during a section of the meeting called “Public Comment.”
The whole point of representative democracy (which is, I’d argue, the type of system under which our government operates) is that we elect our leaders because we trust them to make decisions for us.
But it’s also our right under that same system to help our leaders make those decisions. Attending public meetings and offering public comment is an opportunity for the average citizen to speak his or her mind and — ideally — to offer some information that might affect the opinion of a public official.
I know there’s a perception that meetings can be boring and that some people feel whatever they say to some public official wouldn’t make any difference anyway. And while some of those things might be true, what we say at public meetings are also overheard by our fellow citizens who attend those meetings.
One public statement might not change our laws or policies, but it might get someone else thinking. And those thoughts can lead to talk, and that talk can lead to action, right here, in our communities.
And the great thing about public meetings is that they’re free. There’s no admission cost or donation required.
To find out more information about public meetings in the area, check the Public Meetings section of the Gateway, on page 2A each week. Visit www.cityofgigharbor.com for a listing of other meetings, too.
For those who aren’t quite ready to speak out in front of law- and policymakers, a local Conversation Cafe is good practice for offering opinions. There’s one happening this week at Java & Clay. See the Community Calendar on page 7D for more information.
But most of all, let your voice be heard.
Print
E-Mail