by Ann Herron

GUEST COLUMNIST

In a few days, I am going to work with a group of Boy Scouts on their communications merit badge. If you don't know about scouting, merit badges are a recognition that a Scout has learned about a particular topic, done a variety of assignments related to that topic, explored some career options and made some presentations about what he has learned.

The communications merit badge requires a Scout to, among other things, attend a public meeting and report on the various points of view expressed, and write a letter to the editor of a local publication expressing his opinion on a topic of community interest.

Just as the Boy Scouts of America are encouraging our youth to be involved in local government, I would like to encourage you, the adult citizens of our community, to show a similar level of involvement.

Too often, lack of citizen involvement means lack of progress. Take the Grantsville Senior Citizens Center for example. Years of planning and waiting for renovations to the run-down facility and still nothing. No blueprints or timetable for the project to even get started. Both county and city officials point the finger at each other for the lack of progress. Meanwhile, Grantsville's seniors wait.

If a few dedicated citizens had made it a point to go to a few county and city meetings and demanded that officials move the project along, perhaps the remodeling could have happened years ago.

It's an example of how not being involved often wastes our own time and money.

Or how about attendance at the neighborhood caucuses two weeks ago? Some residents complained the newspaper didn't tell them about the meetings far enough in advance, but if you had Jazz tickets, you probably wouldn't have needed a daily reminder about the game. We remember things that are important to us.

In some precincts, representatives were chosen just because they showed up. The whole process took less than an hour in most meetings and those who attended really got to feel like they were involved in democracy.

It is never too late to get involved. Once, as a reporter for a hometown paper, I saw one woman stand up at a county meeting and ask about a bike lane over a busy overpass. She stuck to her guns and a year later the county had spent an extra $500,000 to put a bike lane on that overpass. One person can make a huge difference.

If you care about what's happening in your community, make your voice heard. Demand that our representatives work on the projects that are important to us, the tax-paying citizens. If you care about our election process, mark those dates on your calendar.

The motto of the Boy Scouts is "be prepared." Let's be prepared and responsible citizens, and do a little work to show our children what can be gained by becoming involved in our government.

Ann Herron is a journalist and former associate professor at Utah State University who lives in Tooele. She can be reached at annherron@comcast.net.