The public needs to pay attention to Public Notices

There’s a civics lesson to be learned from the huge public turnout, estimated to be close to 100, at Helena Township”s Planning commission meeting last Thursday evening.

One of the people in the audience, a Helena Township resident, who played a role in getting the word out about the meeting, said that he was pleased with the turnout. He told The Review that Three Lakes Assoc., Torch lake Protection Alliance and others got the word out about the meeting. “Showing up in force was necessary to show them that  people care and are paying attention,” he said. “It’s not over,” he added. “We need to keep an eye on what’s going on. That makes for good government.” 

And he’s absolutely right. Citizen participation in  local government assures better, fairer, more efficient local government. But it would be better if that citizen participation occurred more frequently, like paying more attention to what goes on at these meetings every month, showing up at scheduled meetings instead of everybody showing up all at once only on those occasions when a board or commission does something that upsets them.

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