Recently I had the privilege of attending a town hall meeting as a representative of CHC Snohomish County. I was both thrilled to participate yet dismayed at the extemely low turnout.
There were fewer than 100 people taking advantage of an opportunity to spend 1.5 hours with three of our local representatives (Paul Shin, Marko Liias, Mary Roberts); a chance to voice our opinions, share our ideas and bring our concerns to the attention of those who represent and work for us in higher government.
We have close to 700,000 residents in our county yet less than .00014 percent presented for the event. Granted, this was just one town hall of three that were scheduled that day however, if the turnout in Edmonds is supportive of the average response, we are undoubtly missing out an opportunity to participate.
Although the focus of the meeting was raising revenue the topics brought forward ranged from education, health/dependent/elder care to transportation and the state of the economy in general. However, the gallery of participants was not a clear representation of the members of our community and only a few actually made it a point to pose questions to and/or address Ms. Roberts, Mr. Shin and Mr. Liias.
True or not, in the eyes of those that were there their views represent that of many more, perhaps even mine and yours; it is their voices that are heard time and time again. It was an eye-opening and educational experience for me.
We may not all have the same ideas or values. Regardless of your personal convictions, I would urge each of you to make the time and get engaged at any and all levels. It is both a responsibility and a benefit of freedom of speech and only by getting involved can we each make a difference.