By Ron Ulmer
The other day one of President Kennedy’s most inspirational lines popped into my head, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” As I began to ruminate on this famous quote, I thought what if we would all ask what can we do to improve our state and local governments and not what can they do for us. Quite a few items each of us could contribute came to mind including a recent example. A few weeks ago, a successful hazardous household waste recycle event was held at the Mitsubishi parking lot even though the government does not fund these anymore. Citizens donated time and money to fund the event, amazing what we can do without government taxing and spending. If we the local citizens take action, we can shrink the size of the government and the size of its budget. Over the last several decades we have come to expect that the government pick up our yard waste and bulk items. What if all households composted or hired a private recycling company to take care of yard waste and brush? Several “junk men” or “recyclers” currently patrol the streets to pick up anything of value before the municipalities pick up these items. What if each household paid these scavengers to remove items that have no value and to dispose of them properly? Would this cost us less than the bulk waste pickup provided by our taxes and government fees?
What if more of us volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, or other non-profit organization or if we approached a neighbor to volunteer to help with the upkeep of a house that began to fall into disrepair?
What if parents or retired teachers and retired administrators patrolled the hallways and playground of our schools rather than playground attendants, security guards, or a cop? What if more of us volunteered to tutor and mentor students? Not only would the students receive needed assistance from professionals, but also the volunteer citizens would be better informed when voting for school board members as they would be directly involved in the school.
What if whenever a government employee gave us excellent service, we thanked them and emailed their supervisor to express our thanks for the outstanding job? Would our government employees be more productive and have higher morale? Why not incorporate into your mindset that when you observe something working well, you send a note or an email to those responsible?
Frequently government board meeting are attended by a few, if any citizens. Would government officials be more accountable if they were observed directly by numerous citizens rather than just through the eyes and ears of the media?
When you see a problem, report it and why not add a proposed solution? What if we all started contributing our energies and our ideas to the appropriate government body, would it be possible for the community to have better public services at a lower cost? What if?
