Boards and Commissions
Submitted by smith on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 11:08am
The other night I was talking about the need for more volunteers to serve on town boards and committees. I thought I'd pass this along in case anyone actually was interested. There are the same sets of boards in Carrboro and also for Orange County (This website has listings for Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Chapel Hill as well as for the county.). Lather, rinse, and repeat for Durham, Raleigh, and your home as well.
You may or may not know that I am a member of the Orange County Commission for the Environment and also for the Orange United Transportation board. It is an interesting volunteer experience, and you learn an awful lot about how your governments work and how they work together (or don't, as the case may be). It can be frustrating, and at times you feel like you're not getting anywhere, but all the same, it's good to do, and it needs to be done, and you, yes YOU, can help.
Front-paged by Anglico. This is really important. Getting ourselves involved on Boards and Commissions is the first step to taking back our government.
Serving on a board
is a great way to influence things from the inside. I served on the Durham Planning Commission for 8 years and actually had developers asking me for suggested improvements to their projects. I always started with:
- do everything the planning staff is asking you for.
and
- where is your bike/ped plan?
An involved board member is a executive director's dream.
Whether it's a municipal board, or a private not-for-profit organization, if you're willing to commit time, energy, and ideas to a cause you care about, we will love you for it, and you will find that the intrinsic rewards are well worth it. You will be able to touch lives, influence policy, and absolutely make a difference.
If you're in it for the resume, please take a hike on one of Todd's pedestrian paths. :)
Be the change you wish to see in the world. --Gandhi