Imagine a place where residents and city leaders worked closely together to make their hometown a great place to live and work -- and every citizen felt like his or her opinion mattered.
Getting residents involved in their towns and cities is one of the themes of this year's League of Minnesota Cities conference -- held in Duluth this week. Its keynote speaker was Paul Loeb, author of "The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear."
Loeb touched on the challenge of giving citizens a voice early on in the process, rather than simply allowing them to air their opinions at a public hearing ... which often comes too late in the process to affect any meaningful change. The idea is to find out who the stakeholders are, and have them help develop the solution -- instead of simply commenting for or against.
The school district did a decent job of reaching out early, but we would be kidding ourselves if we said that all of Duluth's citizens feel they have a voice.
Sadly, money is probably the only guarantee of being heard, or a long-standing relationship with a decision maker.
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Of course, we all know that's not the way it's supposed to work. According to our founding fathers, it's up to the people to maintain our freedoms: John Adams said "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" and Thomas Jefferson said the people are "the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."
So, what can the average Joe or Josie do to keep America great? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Educate yourself about the issues facing your city, your state and your country.
2. Get involved. Join with others who share your concerns. Volunteer to help. Know that a group of citizens has a better chance of being heard than a single voice.
3. Make your voice heard by contacting your elected officials, instead of simply muttering over the morning newspaper. While you're at it, write a letter to the editor of your favorite newspaper.
4. Be a leader. Take the time to get involved and set a good example. Turn off the TV and use your time more constructively.
After all, what better time is there to think about civic engagement than July 4?
Below are phone numbers for the current Duluth City Council:
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Roger Reinert, 730-5247, rreinert@ci.duluth.mn.us
Russ Stover, 626-2627, rstover@ci.duluth.mn.us
Greg Gilbert, 722-6331, ggilbert@ci.duluth.mn.us
Laurie Johnson, 390-2544, ljohnson@ci.duluth.mn.us
Garry Krause, 727-2790, gkrause@ci.duluth.mn.us
Tim Little, 726-9322,
Don Ness, 724-4184, dness@ci.duluth.mn.us
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Jim Stauber, 724-1768, jstauber@ci.duluth.mn.us
Russ Stewart, 733-5952, rstewart@ci.duluth.mn.us
