Letter: Thanks to CMC and High Five Access Media
We want to thank Colorado Mountain College for sponsoring our Civics 101 class this winter. Also, thanks to High Five Access Media and Casey Russell for teaching the class. We took the class wanting to better understand government, how it works on local, state, and federal levels.
For a short time, our class became its own small community for asking questions and discussing. We were reminded of the ways any community member can participate in civic life. There are issues of concern right here in our county — affordable housing, child care, forest health, water conservation, and others.
Anyone can contact their local, state or federal public officials, ask questions, attend presentations, dig into resources that inform. For the issue of housing alone, the Eagle County Department of Housing, Habitat for Humanity or the town of Avon are good places to get information. Vail Symposium, whose mission is “convening locally, thinking globally,” zeroes in on not only worldwide topics, but also local issues, with child care being the most recent.
For a mere three minutes, anyone can speak during the “public comment” time that is designated on county, commission, and even homeowners association public agendas. Unable to attend in person? Check out the High Five Access Media website (highfivemedia.org) to live-stream or access archived videos of government, nonprofit and community meetings and programs.
They also welcome volunteers who want to learn the tools to become civically engaged. Lastly, we encourage everyone to keep their voter registration up-to-date. Flipping through the Vail Daily, we see upcoming elections for Eagle River Water and Sanitation District, Eagle County Paramedic Services, and Mountain Recreation board seats. Civic engagement — we the people — don’t underestimate its power.
Support Local Journalism
Martha Petrie, Sue Eves, Barbie Christopher, Lee Rimel, Landon Harrje, Andrew Harbourne, Jeff Cohen, Jody Talbot
CMC students
