This is just a small sample of the people that came to pack the lobby outside of the chamber. We watched the meeting on a small TV there, and everyone was completely immersed in the proceedings. It was really something to see. In fact, it was pretty damn inspiring to see that many people interested in how they were governed.
The meeting was fascinating. The first subject that I heard about was a discussion of the Citizen's Police Academy, which is a souped up Neighborhood Watch program that has apparently done many great things for this community's safety. Then two high school girls came up to talk about their charity work called "For Pete's Sake," which raises research money for ASL (otherwise known as Lou Gerig's disease). Their dad, Pete, suffers from the disease, and it was very moving to see their hardwork laid out before the city council members.
The last issue that I stayed for was what brought the crowd. Duke Energy, which has the sole franchise rights for power in the city of Greensboro, caused quite a ruckus in December. They slashed and butchered trees in neighborhoods all throughout the city, often without the property owner's consent. Workers were poorly trained (if that), and their shoddy efforts left trees ugly and deformed, or in piles along the road ways.
To say that it was a heated environment in the lobby is an understatement. People rolled their eyes when the task force representative came to the podium. Their eye rolls were even more prevalent when the Duke Energy representative took his turn. One group was shushed violently (or as violently as one could be shushed), because they were talking and the TV couldn't be heard.
Then the citizens took the stage. There were empassioned speakers that made logical, valid arguments as to why a company like Duke should not be above the will of the city and it's citizens. There were heartfelt pleas for action after trees that have been around for decades were chopped down because it was easy to do, not because it was right to do. There was even a Lorax reference or two.
I made a friend standing out in the lobby. Her name is Anna, and she's an older woman that has lived in Greensboro since she was 12. She works with the Women's League of Voters, and she even invited me to come to their next meeting (I made sure that men were allowed before I agreed to come). And while she said that not every meeting got that firery, it was still important to come.
And I have to agree. We place so much stock nowadays in who we vote for in the Presidential elections, dividing our nation into red states and blue states, conservatives and liberals, those that watch Fox News and those that watch...well, the real news. But really, the decisions made at the state and local level of government have more of an impact on our daily lives. And the process of how these decisions get made go largely unnoticed.
It's time that I start noticing them. My generation is going to start running this joint soon, if we haven't started already. I want to be a part of that. I want my voice to count. In order to do that, I have to be more informed. So I plan on going back again soon. As Thomas Jefferson may or may not have said, "An informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy." Here's to being the bulwark.
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