It was brought to my attention recently that I have been guilty of a kind of blindness, a prejudice if you will.
Until this conversation, it did not occur to me how lucky I have been to have a front row seat at local political body meetings. I sometimes joke that if I had a dime for every hour I’d spent in a commissioners meeting, a school board or city council meeting and the like, I’d be able to live like a king.
But my attendance at those meetings has also given me insight into how the various bodies worked – or malfunctioned. I took that for granted, and I apologize if it has affected my attitude. I might have been less than sympathetic to those who haven’t had my advantages in being at those meetings.
Yes, they can be mind numbingly dull. There are things discussed that probably very few people are interested in or even aware of. On the other hand, those tiny tidbits are the business of the people. And you, the reader, are the people.
I don’t expect everyone to come to every city council meeting, even though I wish they would.
But it would benefit all of us if the population would become more educated on what the governing bodies are and what they do. At the very least folks would know who to call if their road is torn up.
At the very least, learn who your representative on the council or commission is. It can’t hurt and it might help. And it isn’t hard to do.