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Health & Fitness

So What Exactly Is a Civic Association?

More people need to get involved with what is going on in their local government and town/village issues. A civics association is a great place to start.

So last night, I attended my first ever civics meeting.  I am ashamed to say that I am almost 40 and have never been to one before.  I paid a visit to the Lakeville Estates Civic Association and was pleasantly surprised with the experience.  Most of us don’t even know what civics means.  Here is a definition, according to Wikipedia:

Civics - is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government.

Most of us are too busy with life, family and work to be involved.  We are tired after a long day of work and kids driving us nuts so we simply do not go.  We say, "bah, it's not important, government and politicians do what they want anyway."  We all complain about our local politicians, our zoning boards, building departments and everything under the sun, but we do NOT do anything more.  To be honest, I didn’t even know what to expect for this meeting, so I went with an open mind. 

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What I found was a great group of people, older in age, as I and a New Hyde Park Patch journalist were the youngest people in the room (this is just one of the problems) and these people are not of single political party of ideology.  They had a great agenda of what was affecting them in their part of town.  Many things about zoning codes, politicians and town business, safety and events were discussed.  They even had a police officer from POP unit there to talk about local safety issues.

My advice is that we all take some time out of our crazy life to GET INVOLVED.  Your local civics association is a great place to start as are town board meetings.  Here you will have direct interaction with YOUR GOVERNMENT and people who volunteer (in the case of the civics association) to keep an eye on how politicians manage your town or village.  If you have kids, find a babysitter or take turns with your spouse to attend.  If you are single or without children, make some time and go!

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There are politicians out there that want people to be LESS involved.  Do not leave it up to the few or the media to inform you about what is going on.  You can make a difference if you are involved.  The Republican candidate who is running for Supervisor, Lee Tu, believes that all residents should be involved in their government and know what is going on and have a voice.  I cannot stress how important I feel this is for all of us to be involved.  After last night, I will be attending a lot more of these meetings in the future. 

GET OUT AND GET INVLOVED!

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