When a community rises
When a community rises.
In this day and age, when speaking about any political issue, most of the people I know tend to be much more vocal when discussing issues happening at the federal level, more so than local issues which may impact them directly.
It’s good to be part of the conversation around some of the most pressing topics, but we should always keep in mind those issues that may affect us directly. Big decisions happening at the federal level don’t always translate into our community, but local issues do.
One of the biggest concerns that I’ve had for a long time is the lack of public participation in different communities in which I’ve been, my hometown of El Paso and the Imperial Valley. I understand the difficulty regarding staying engaged in local governments but it is a bit concerning at times when important decisions are set to be taken and there are very few people in the audience who make their voice heard. Even more troubling is the low voting turnouts.
Recently, as part of my job, I had the opportunity to attend, first a protest in Brawley and later the community gathering in which a remedial plan to mitigate the effects of the polluted soil where the PureGro manufacturing facility once stood.
Even before the protest had gotten underway, the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, due to the high volume of comments from the locals who opposed the remedial plan, was forced to scrap it.
Now the state will have to work in conjunction with the residents of Brawley to come up with a better plan, DTSC Cypress Cleanup Branch Chief John Scandura told me after the community hearing Feb. 9.
“We received an overwhelming number of comments and input from the community, telling us that what we presented to the community just wasn’t acceptable,” he said. “We had a number of discussions in the department and felt it was the best thing to move away from this plan. Before we come up with a new plan, we need to come up with something that is acceptable to the community and to all the parties involved. We are going to take as long as necessary to get there.”
The coming together by the residents of Brawley provided all of us with one of the greatest examples of what positive effect we can have in our own communities when we are involved, informed and engaged.
Only by emulating the efforts we saw in Brawley, you can ensure that your community continues to move forward despite the challenges that may lay ahead. So if you want to make a difference, engaging in heated political arguments won’t be enough. Only continued action will suffice.