Seeing the same faces at community meetings is often a welcome sign
when I have an assignment. While I attend basically the same three or
four meetings a month, I usually try to generate something new and
interesting from each session that helps people in the community stay
informed.
The only thing I don’t quite understand is why, although everyone
wants to believe we are a “tightknit” community, not all civic
organizations work together or attend critical meetings of other
organizations to keep themselves informed!
I’ve gone to countless meetings on the situation at P.S. 114. Even
though I couldn’t attend every meeting since the issue arose in
November, I’ve never seen any of our civic leaders, other than
politicians, at these rallies. Understandably, teachers and parents
spearheaded the move towards saving the school. Maybe none of our civic
leaders even went to P.S. 114: so does that mean they shouldn’t bother
fighting with the rest of the community?
Strangely, all the civic leaders spoke about P.S. 114 at their
respective meetings each month and voiced their opinions when they’d
never been to any of the Department of Education hearings at the school.
Is it fair to say that if you’re “active” in your community, you
should make time not only to host your own meeting, but to join others
whose goal is to make Canarsie a thriving neighborhood?
When I covered the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
meeting last week at the Hebrew Educational Society, only 20 to 30
residents were there. It seemed like the only reason they were there was
to get answers about their higher water bills. I didn’t see any of our
civic leaders (only elected officials or their representatives) at this
meeting, during which the commissioner informed everyone about the
Paerdegat Basin Project and how critical it is to cleaning out our water
system.
Everyone wants to complain to and about city agencies and their lack of appearance in Canarsie
– but when agencies finally host an elaborate and well-thought-out
session about how projects impact us, the civic leaders are nowhere to
be found!
Are civic leaders in contact with each other about when other meetings are held? The Canarsie Courier’s
Community Guide isn’t just a listing of events in black and white to
acknowledge and pass by. It’s meant to spread the word to your friends
and neighbors, as well as civics, so attendance at the events would be
even higher. Did anyone even know about the DEP meeting? Why didn’t all
the civics get together and attend so that they could bring these
important issues back to their members at their next meeting?
Whether it’s bad timing for your schedule or you just “don’t care”
anymore, is not my business. But if we’re truly going to return to the
“tight-knit” community we were over 10 years ago, I suggest more civics
get involved – with each other and take advantage when an agency avails itself to us.
If your only concerns are issues within your own group, then you might as well have your head in the sand!
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