WORCESTER AIMS TO GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

**WORCESTER– a ｃounty in Massachusetts, USA. 

InWorcester, 86 percent of the registered voters chose not to vote in the last municipalelection many of the last 10 elections drew few candidates. Some havesuggested this lack of civic involvement is the result of a lack of diversityin government. On Tuesday, residents and city officials joined representativesof the Department of Justice and the attorney general's office to see if thetrend can be reversed.

The secondof the city's dialogues on race sessions was held Monday at QuinsigamondCommunity College. The short-term goal for this session was to discuss ways ofimproving civic engagement among the city's minority populations. The long-termgoal is a government which better reflect demographics, thus betterrepresents its citizenry.

Attendeeswere broken off into smaller groups, facilitated by leaders, and asked toanswer questions regarding whether government is meeting their concerns, theirown level of involvement and what can be done to improve the situation as theyperceive it to be.

Many of thegroups came back with the same advice: Educate.

Some calledfor civics lessons to return to public schools, though some argued thatallowed the government to institute its own brand of politics on studentswithout parental involvement.

Othersuggestions were to involve students directly in government, whether throughyouth parliaments or directly recruiting minority college students to becomeinvolved in the city's two colleges that have heavy local enrollment,Quinsigamond Community College and Worcester State University.

Manypointed to the fact that Worcester's form of government can be confusing. Themayor runs for office, but has no power in the day-to-day operations thataffect residents' lives. There were calls to better educate people on howgovernment works, and even a call for a change of government to a strong mayorsystem.

Othersnoted, however, that outreach and education will only work if people are madeaware of it, saying the government needs to go to where the people are, inchurches and local businesses, with educational material and posters.

Thatinformation could be to alert people to upcoming events and elections, or tolet them know who they can contact. Some also noted that any such informationneeds to be in the various languages the people of the city speak.

At leastone group questioned the ability to have honest discussion when the media wasallowed to attend, suggesting media access be reviewed for future sessions.While not addressing that specifically, City Manger Edward Augustus said heexpected that the sessions would lead to "frank and sometimesuncomfortable conversations."

"Theworld is run by those who show up," Augustus said. "That's how changewill happen, because you have shown up."

SOURCE: http://www.masslive.com/news/worcester/index.ssf/2015/06/worcester_aims_to_get_more_inv.html

Image:

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VOCABULARY:

1.municipal elections  - elections of localgovernment officers in a town or city

2.diversity - a range of different things.

3.demographics - statistical data of a population, especially those showingaverage age, income, education, etc.

4.citizenry - all the citizens of a place

5. civics -the study of the rights and duties of citizens and of how government works

DISCUSSION:

FOR CITYHALL/ LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES:

1. How doyou encourage people to participate in government-initiated programs?

2. Do youalways get a good turn-out during elections?

3. What arethe common comments about the government in your locality?

GENERAL:

4. Howimportant is people's involvement when it comes to improving governmentservices?

5. How docitizens respond to new policies and programs in Korea?

6. Do youagree with this statement "The world is run by those who show up. That'show change will happen, because you have shown up."? Why or why not?