Outreach Committees: New Volunteers?

The Asian community in Livingston has suggested a be formed, to allow these residents a greater voice and participation in community affairs.

The following is taken from the web site of one of our Council people, describing the mission of this proposed committee: "The proposed committee members – about 15 of them – came to the conference meeting to speak to the council about the need for this committee to reach out to members of the community and to get them access to various services and to work to have them join Township committees. "

I applaud this proposal and the people seeking to make it happen, but have a few questions, that I have raised previously, that still remain unanswered. (1) Who will be appointed/volunteer to be on this committee? (2) Will its constituancy only be Asians, or will other ethnicities also be included? (3) Why has the committee chosen this point in time to seek its creation -- has it anything to do with the proposed Charter Schools? (4) Where has this segment of our community been thus far in its participation in community affairs and why haven't they been active to date?

This last question is based upon my having been a volunteer in Livingston for more than a decade, and being on six or more Township committees during this time. Very few members of this population have been volunteers on town committees and I regularly seek their participation whenever I meet them. This lack of participation has been, in my opinion, a loss for Livingston, as this vibrant, educated and talented segment of our community has much to contribute and new faces/ideas are always welcome.

However, I trust that any participation will be for the benefit of the entire community, not seek to limit its goals to a few segments of our community, or to push for a personal agenda. Many of the services within Livingston, that enhance our quality of life, are performed by volunteers; from the fire department, to the first aid squad, and to the dozens of committees and organizations that provide programs year round that are open to all residents.

Let us hope that we will see more of this population actually participating and volunteering. Livingston will be better for it.