Is Anybody Out There?

I attended two public meetings this week, one as a resident and one as a Township Committeeman. The first, as a resident, was the W.T. K-8 Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. I was one out of a total of 4 residents in the audience, once the meeting got past recognizing a Championship Middle School Girls sports team. On Wednesday night, as a Township Committeeman, I participated in the first Municipal Budget Development meeting for 2012. There was 1 resident in the audience. Reading comments and articles in Patch I see resident comments ranging from interest, support, concern to outrage over various topics. Township Board of Education and Township Committee actions/inaction and tax impacts are frequent topics on the blogs, yet only 5 people came out to participate two public meetings. Why don't some of the Patch commenters attend public meetings and express their opinions and interact directly with their elected representatives if they are concerned about issues affecting their lives, their children and their ability to afford to live in Washington Township?