To the Editor:

I’ve seen and heard many things said and written about governance in our country since last November’s elections. What I’ve heard and read has been all over the map in terms of people’s viewpoints, which seems to be an unsurprising reaction to a largely-unexpected result at the national level.

I’ve also noticed that many people are talking about 2020, or, in some cases, 2018, saying that the course charted last November needs to be reversed in some cases, or expanded in others.

While I am always happy to see people dialoguing about greater involvement in the political process, I think folks, most especially those who are relatively new to full engagement in the process, need to understand that waiting either two or four years down the road to re-engage isn’t the way to bring about fundamental change.

The kind of civic engagement that creates groundswells of support for people and ideas is pretty much a full-time process. Involvement in only presidential elections is not really game-changing. It is full-time engagement that works from the bottom up to bring real change to all levels of government and society.

The next elections for governor, the state legislature, the House, and the Senate are nearly two years away, and the next presidential election is nearly four years in the distance. Energy spent talking about such things now is effectively dispersed over time.

Folks who are truly interested in either changing, or preserving, the status quo need more immediate involvement. If you live in one of our area’s villages, you have elections upcoming the third Tuesday in March. If you live in a suburban school district, school board elections roll around on the third Tuesday in May. County, city, city school board, and town elections will be held the first Tuesday in November.

If you’re serious about seeing people who reflect your views and values in public office, the time for engagement is now. Identify the candidates who reflect your views and support them.

If you can’t find appropriate candidates, consider running for office yourself. It isn’t easy, but it’s far from impossible, and this type of citizen involvement helps to keep at least some part of government beyond the reach of professional politicians.

In the coming years, we will get the kind of government that the majority of our citizens are willing to work for.

Donald J. Csaposs

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Donald Csaposs is a grant writer for the town of Guilderland.