Civic Engagement 101

Three of my Blandin graduate colleagues and I recently worked together to plan and implement a Your Government – Your Taxes Community Forum. Our goal was to help educate the community about local government and the financial pressures and issues our government officials are grappling with.

We had no idea how many people would attend, but hoped to get enough to fill the seats in the City Council Chambers. We were pleasantly surprised when about 25 community members started filling up the Council Chambers (and expanded into the Senior Center) for an hour to hear from our City Manager, County Coordinator and School Superintendent. The Morris Sun & Tribune also attended and wrote a front page article in the newspaper. This is truly what civic engagement and grassroots community involvement is all about!


Holly Witt, NRS, Alexandria