Do You Care About What Happens in Our North East Community?

It was highly encouraging to see the turnout for the meetings when the marina was discussed, followed closely by the meeting regarding the possible housing of illegal immigrants at Granite Ridge, however, without a hot button issue on the agenda, turnout for township meetings is often sparse, to the point where I’ve been the only one in attendance or sometimes with one or two others. That’s not good. There are also borough and school board meetings to attend and some of us need to be there, for every one.

You already bought your ticket

You are a season ticket holder for every meeting, you bought it with your taxes, it only makes sense to show up once in a while to watch your team play. The township supervisors, the borough council and the school board are there for you to oversee, you’re the manager and team owner. Don’t let them go rogue or make up their own rules, you’re their boss.

What just happened?

You might be surprised at the number of issues discussed, even when the agenda is light. I’ve too often heard people wonder, “When was that decided?” or “Why didn’t I know about that?”, but if you ask them if they ever attended a meeting the answer is usually, no. They still get upset, they may complain, but they never engaged up front, in other words, they let it happen because they didn’t consider it important.

Listen, ask, get engaged

There are meetings every month, the township has two, the borough has one and sometimes two, the school board two, and they give you an opportunity to find out what is being discussed and decided now and might happen in the future. If you don’t understand something, you can ask right then. You can hear what others are asking and see if the answers make sense. You don’t have to be caught off guard, you can be the person who knows.

Change happens with or without you

Former GE CEO Jack Welch was fond of saying, “Control your destiny or someone else will.” If you don’t take part in the decisions being made in those areas that affect you, it doesn’t mean nothing happens, it means someone else decides your future for you. Is that what you want?

Show up!

What can you do? Show up. Be there. Let them know you’re watching and listening. Make time for a meeting, you might be surprised at what you see and hear. Right now, as never before, local issues are extremely important and unlike politics on the national or even state level, you can affect the outcome.

The meeting schedules are listed below. Be a part of your future and our future. Mark your calendar right now. See you there!

North East Borough Meeting Schedule
North East Township Meeting Schedule
North East School District Meeting Schedule