This volunteer service opportunity invites community members to go out and attend local government, civic, or community meetings where important issues are being discussed and important decisions are being made. These kind of meetings happen all the time and are often not eventful. Because of this, attendance is usually low and when important issues arise, they go unnoticed until the community members feel the impacts.
We ask for volunteers to attend these meetings, listen in through it all for any issues that you feel are important , and bring back notes on the meeting. This helps us as a community to be more engaged and proactively involved in decisions that shape our social, cultural, and economic environments, and we hope it reduces reactionary politics in our greater community.
A few helpful notes if you plan to attend a local meeting . . .
1) There is no specific dress code. and community members are welcome to attend any open public meetings. You don’t need any invite to attend a public community or government meeting.
2) Prepare to take notes during the meeting, using our Policy Watch form. It is totally okay to bring a laptop, tablet, or electronic device for note taking while attending meetings, as long as alerts and media volume are turned off.
3) Decorum During Meetings: Usually, meetings have a designated time for public input. Outside that time, there is no opportunity for general attendees to speak during these meetings or ask questions during the meeting. Please observe those rules unless it is otherwise stated within the meeting by meeting facilitators.
A list of City Govt. meetings can be found here: https://www.greenvillenc.gov/government/city-council/all-upcoming-meetings
A list of County Govt. meetings can be found here: https://www.pittcountync.gov/AgendaCenter
^^These above are not the only important meetings, but should cover the only ones hosted by local city and county government. Don’t hesitate to search out other nonprofits and public serving organizations to find other meetings.