It has always fascinated me when people talk about taxes. Most people hate taxes but expect the services and infrastructure they provide.  Sometimes the debate goes to taxing “business” instead of “people”. That makes we wonder if anyone realizes that business IS people: owners, managers, customers and vendors.  Ultimately, when such debates occur it shifts to the “them” vs. “us” or “government” vs. “the people”.  It has been a long time since my civics class at St. Joseph’s High School in South Bend, Indiana in 1965 but seems to me that another thing we forget is that the government IS (we) the people.

So why all this disconnect? Could our traditionally, relatively low voter registration and turnout have any connection?  If you don’t vote, do you have a right to complain? Of course you do, but it doesn’t seem right.  With all we continue to fight for to keep our freedom – and how hard people of other countries fight to get the right to vote – it seems a giant waste that so many of us don’t vote.  That’s why I agreed to serve on The Advisory Committee on Participatory Democracy (ACPD).

The ACPD was created within the Office of the Secretary of State pursuant to NRS 225.240. The committee consists of 10 members including the Secretary of State or his designee and nine other members appointed by the Secretary of State.

The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to assist the Secretary of State in identifying and proposing programs that support participatory democracy and solutions to any problem concerning the level of participatory democracy.

Our focus for the coming election is to try to stimulate two key groups to register and vote: Youth & Business.  Hopefully, the heightened interest in the presidential election will help us, but we are eager for new ideas.

Chuck Alvey
President/CEO of EDAWN (Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada)

Chuck will be speaking on the ACPD’s civic engagement activities at the June 26th TMT member meeting.