Mid-May, 2009. Anchorage. It rained and even snowed a little the other day. I was happy. Sure we needed the rain, but I was happy because at least for that day, I was relieved of guilt.

On such days, I’m reminded of the late ADNews columnist, Suzan Nightingale. She wrote what I consider one of the best pieces the News ever printed. She was on the mark as she described our summer sleep deprivation and guilty feelings should we waste one ray of sunshine. Yes, she prayed for rain so she could occasionally watch her ‘soaps’, but I need the rain to fulfill my civic duty.

Our democratic society includes the right to participate in our government. It’s called ‘public process.’ Although some of our elected officials don’t quite grasp the concept, our local government provides the best opportunities for citizen input—LOTS of opportunities. These aren’t the highly visible, single focus events like moving our Town Square bricks, cutting trees in parks, building roads through neighborhoods illogically, or bridges to nowhere.

In reality, our ability to effect community change lies in reading endless draft plans and ordinances, submitting detailed comments, honing three-minute testimonies for public hearings so decision-makers might vote on intricate issues based on logic and community needs/desires.

The fact is, there aren’t enough people willing to do these things. Some issues are so complex residents can’t handle more than a gut reaction to them. Too often, decisions are made even with good evidence to the contrary. Those are usually motivated by politics and constitute proof that the ‘old boy network’ is alive and well; besides, we don’t care how they do it ‘outside.’

It would be a relief to have more residents care about unsexy things, like how our city is developing—infill vs sprawl, better designed subdivisions, drainage that works, more access to Chugach State Park, commuter rail/transit. Better yet would be for new faces to testify, write comments, and phone elected officials. Anyone can start at their community council level.

Why care that the non-elected, insane willingly give up sunny days to meet deadlines to make our city a place where people might want to live, rather than just being a place to live?

Burn-out is one reason. The sadder, but truer, reason is that decision-makers discount the testimony of those who show up too often as not being reflective of the larger population.

I often think about giving it all up and going outside—to the unplanted garden, the unhiked trails, dodging the bears—but maybe not today.