Why join a civic association
To the Editor
Are you unhappy with your government? Do you feel elected officials are not listening to your concerns? Do you wish there was an organization that could channel your concerns to local, county and state officials; an organization that could introduce you to your elected officials before and after they are elected so that you can ascertain whether you are making the correct decisions at the voting booth during these critical times?
Now more than ever is when every concerned citizen should belong to a civic association. In Cape Coral, the oldest, most active and most prestigious civic organization is Cape Coral Civic Association.
In every community there are traditionally two entities that communicate back and forth to government on local issues. They are the chamber of commerce, which represents the wishes of the business people, and the civic association, which represents the resident taxpayers. You elect officials to represent your views and spend your tax dollars wisely, but if you do not communicate your viewpoints, how can you expect a correct response. You cannot go to the voting booth once every few years as your only method of communicating to elected officials how you want your tax dollars spent. It’s your money. If you had it in your local bank account, you would keep a much closer eye on expenditures.
Your civic association is how you can best interact with government about how you want or don’t want your tax dollars spent. It is also how government communicates with residents. Elected officials pay attention, or should, to groups of people especially when they know these people are involved voters. There is strength in numbers.
You can join Cape Coral Civic for as little as $20 per year per family. For that amount you receive a monthly newsletter that gives you your taxpayer perspective on what’s happening at city hall or on other issues that are important to residents. If you were at the last civic meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 28, Councilman Marty McClain gave us the other side of the story of his frustrations with city council. Steve Riggs gave wonderful insight into the budget. A behind-the-scenes look that you did not get in news articles and if you viewed the council meetings you would not understand the subtlety. It was fascinating and very informative.
Knowledge is a powerful thing. You need it to make well informed decisions. You get it by participating in your community and by attending civic held political forums. Also, by reading the civic Chatline newsletter available on-line at capecoralcivicassociation.org.
Your community will become exactly what you allow it to become. Be a positive influence in building a good community or suffer the consequences. You can no longer procrastinate or turn your back and let someone else “do it.” Someone else is making a mess of your neighborhood and doing it with your tax dollars. Others are profiting at your expense. Join your local civic association. Meetings last from one to two hours, depending on the speaker and the issue, once a month. You will meet wonderful neighbors and at the CCCA they serve free coffee and snacks plus the speakers are much more interesting than what’s on TV.
Kathy Malone, CCCA Member
VP, Council of Civic Associations
Cape Coral