It’s 2020 and like many people, I’ve been reassessing my lifestyle. My life so far has been good, I’m lucky to have what I have, and I am grateful for it. So, what do I mean when I say reassessment? Well it hasn’t been a self-admonishing soul-searching quest of atonement where I throw away all my video games and walk a hot bed of coals. I guess I’m just feeling like I could be more involved in my community…
Turns out that what’s missing in my life is called civic engagement, and I don’t know as much about it as I should, so I’m taking on the challenge of finding out and along the way I thought I would share knowledge and ask questions. This post will contain some good information, and also ask questions kinda like a quiz.
Hopefully it will be a challenge, but if not then you’re doing great already! I thought starting right in Columbia would be appropriate. Government in municipalities is up close and personal and if you want to get engaged this seems like the best place to start. City governments almost always have websites where residents can get an idea of what’s going on in their city.
You can visit the website for City of Columbia and check it out. I’ve visited this website on many occasions in the past and found it to be helpful for finding out information regarding our wonderful municipality. What I’m interested in now is the city council and when they have meetings.
Attending city council meetings is a great way of learning about the governance of your city. It allows you to see leaders active in the process of managing a city and allows you to form your own opinions from first-hand experience. City of Columbia council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 2 pm.
A key way to civically engage is to exercise your right to vote and getting to know the people who were voted into office is a great way to help you make an informed decision in the next election. If you think that getting down to the city council chambers for the meeting might be a problem for you, then you can attend a virtual meeting, here. I, like many people, find the process of learning anything hard if I can’t have hands-on experience and this is a great way for me to get that experience. Join me at the next meeting to find out what we didn’t know that we needed to know.
