Letter: Be a part of your government
It is most common for government panels in Parachute, Rifle, Aspen, Basalt, New Castle, Silt, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, Snowmass Village, Carbondale, Pitkin County and Garfield County to go wanting for panel members and even public attendance and participation.
What is a government panel? It can be a sanctioned volunteer government body such as a board, commission, task force, committee, caucus or other designation. Some have budgets; others don’t.
An American usually fills out one or more applications for different desired government bodies or gets picked to sit on a town, city or county panel.
The government panel applicant gets interviewed by a government collective. You get questioned like when you get interviewed for a job by a company panel of two or more people. Either the applicant gets accepted or not.
There are some Americans who try again and again to be on a panel and never get accepted even though the government in question dearly needs people to serve on its boards, commissions, committees, et al.
Here are some of the benefits and advantages for serving on these government bodies:
1. Acquire and use executive skills.
2. Learn and use parliamentary procedures and “Robert’s Rule of Order.”
3. Learn to problem solve and compromise for the public good.
4. Practice “noblesse oblige” for your community.
5. Use as a stepping stone (resume) for a better job in private industry or government.
6. Influence laws and regulations.
7. Carry out civic responsibilities.
8. Understand how all bureaucracies work whether in government or business.
9. Gain expertise in a field.
10. Be a public example (role model) to your fellow citizens and their children by being a pillar of the community.
So whether you are an unemployed or working American, it is important and smart for you Americans to serve our community by seeking to perform duties on a commission, board, committee, task force or caucus.
Also, it will be most rare when an employer will try to interfere with you or speak against you sitting on a government panel. An employer will accommodate your government service without penalizing you or making your life miserable.
Do take advantage of the opportunity afforded us Americans. Some of the government panels have certain requirements, while others do not. Get the list. Read the panel description and qualifications.
Just proudly walk into your town hall, city hall or county administration offices as an American. Find the town, city or county clerk, and get busy fulfilling your great destiny with a brighter tomorrow for you as an American and your community.
Emzy Veazy III
Burbank, California, and Aspen
