Giving everyone a chance

Giving everyone a chance

Boardman Township residents are going to face a test on how much they care about their township and how it is being governed.

Trustees announced that they will hold seven of the first eight regular meetings of the new year at various churches throughout the township rather than at the government center on Market Street.

Meetings are held at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.

Trustees Tom Costello, Larry Moliterno and Brad Calhoun are not the first public officials to attempt to reach out to residents by taking government meetings to various neighborhoods. It’s been done with varying degrees of success in the past.

Good timing

Boardman’s experiment should be more successful than some because of the timing. The meetings come following rejection of a 3.85-mill police levy in November, The first couple meetings will be held before trustees must decide if they want to put another levy on the May ballot. If another levy is sought, the other meetings would come before the election.

Regardless of the levy issue, the neighborhood meeting give residents an opportunity participate in governance at its closest level. In a free country, even the woefully uninformed are free to complain. But attending a few meetings gives someone who’s inclined to complain a bit more credibility.