I don’t know if we asked the right questions, nor if we found the right solutions, but I do know that it was a beginning — perhaps.

Last evening, in one of my town parks, a handful of citizens met to shake hands and talk with the mayor and four candidates for the upcoming municipal election. And it was good. For someone, like yours truly, who is mostly too intimidated to stand up at council meetings, it was a chance to share my voice, and to be heard. There were two “secretaries” taking notes as we sat on, and stood around, the bleachers and tossed out our ideas, our compliments, and our criticisms. It was an informal, but maybe effective way to communicate, and possibly it will help to bring about change. Change that we all say we want: transparency and a response to our particular needs as residents in this small town.

There is no way elected representatives can know what we need if we don’t interact with them and tell them directly what is important to us. And this was an opportunity to do just that.

From what I understand, this relaxing get-together will be repeated next Wednesday at the beach, although probably not for a swim. Why don’t you join in and help make a difference? This is such an easy way to make sure your perspectives/opinions will be taken into consideration when the newly elected council meets. Let’s make a concerted effort to have a truly representative local government that acts on the behalf of all of us.