SUNY Broome will host a Public Voice event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in Decker Health Sciences Building Room 201 on campus. All citizens are invited to attend.
The college’s Center for Civic Engagement wants to hear what local community members think the top three legislative priorities — at the county, state and federal levels — should be. In addition, the Center is asking Rep. Anthony Brindisi, our New York State, the Broome County Executive, the Chair of the Broome County Legislature and the Democratic Minority Leader to provide us with their top three legislative priorities.
Since job creation is important to our local community, it doesn’t need to be included as one of the top issues. During the event, the Center will list the priorities that have been articulated by our elected officials.
The ground rules are as follows:
- Each citizen is encouraged to bring a written list of their top priorities.
- Each citizen will be given up to 2 minutes to identify their top three local, state and federal legislative priorities.
- Elected officials or their designee are invited to attend the event to listen to citizen input, but will not be asked to comment; likewise, citizens are not to engage legislators or their designees in any conversation during the event about the issues. Conversation before or after the formal portion of the event is permitted.
- Citizens’ views will be recorded and a copy given to appropriate elected officials.
- If a citizen is unable to attend the event but wishes to contribute input, they may mail their top issues to Lisa Strahley, Civic Engagement Coordinator, SUNY Broome Community College, at strahleyla@sunybroome.edu Submissions will be accepted through Jan. 24, 2019.
This type of event was pioneered at Panama City Community College and has been endorsed by elected officials, who view the event as a type of public opinion poll on what issues are deemed important in the community.
Co-sponsors for this event include SUNY Broome’s Center for Civic Engagement, Student Assembly, the college’s Department of History and Social Science, and the Broome County Chamber of Commerce.
