I have seen some wonderful civic actions in the last few years. I was at a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting in August, when Mike Arnold came to talk to the assembly about the brine issue on peninsula roads.
He organized a crew of peninsula automotive workers to testify. They brought brake lines and other rusted parts up to the speaker’s table to drive their point home (no pun intended).
A few years ago, in Fairbanks, I was at a protest (the whole city seemed to be out) because of all the state budget cuts going on. I struck up a conversation with a millennial mom. She told me it was the first time she had ever come out to protest anything, and the reason why is she had a 2-year-old and day care funding was being cut.
And just this past week, I witnessed another wonderful civic activity. I read a post on Homer Communications by Casey Siekaniec, who serves on the Homer Port and Harbor Advisory Commission. He was informing the people about possible rate hikes to the harbor, which the city is considering. He was clear and concise. It is the reader’s job to think about this issue. But what I consider as important is he left a link where people could publicly testify or write a letter about this issue.
Civic actions take time and thought — but watching an impressive display of testimony, going to an event, or one post, can help so many people learn about something they were not even aware of. Thanks Mike, mom in Fairbanks, and Casey, for all your wonderful efforts.
Remember all voices matter and all votes count!
Kenai Peninsula Votes is a grassroots, citizen-led voting group. We do not care who you vote for, but be educated on what you are voting for. Contact kenaipeninsulavotes@gmail.com.
