Maitland City Talk

Citizen Involvement is the key to good government.

The benefits of citizen involvement to Maitland are many. More involved residents result in more informed citizenry. Greater involvement by citizens in advisory boards, committees and city council meetings results in livelier discussion and debate. With greater involvement, comes a more solid connection between City Council and you, the resident. And finally, greater involvement leads to better decisions that serve to move the city of Maitland forward and set the direction for our future.

Now, more than ever, the city needs your help. Challenges facing our city in the near future are numerous and varied — more so than at any point in our history. From dealing with the budget, to personnel, to addressing growth and its impact on roads, schools and the environment, we need your help in order to assure our community that we have made the best, most informed decisions along the way.

Many positions are available to you

You can help by applying for one of the many positions that will be available in the upcoming months. Between September and December of this year, positions will become available on many key city boards. They include positions on the following: Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Fiscal Advisory Board, Lakes Advisory Board, Personnel Board, Planning & Zoning Commission and Transportation Advisory Board.

Quite often, positions become available due to the resignation of a member of a board, whether they have moved out of town, or have just been elected by our citizenry, so it is important you have a current application on file. All you need to do is to fill out an application, either in person or online, and return it to our city clerk, Maria Waldrop. It's that simple.

In addition to the many positions available, there's always a chance that a special committee will be formed such as our Interim Improvement Committee currently being chaired by Councilwoman Bev Reponen. City Council also has liaisons for the library and for state and federal governments, where Councilwoman Reponen and Councilwoman Linda Frosch respectively could most certainly use your volunteer help.

How can you get more involved?

The first step is to take inventory of your interests and skills. What issue or issues are important enough to you that will result in you taking the time to become more actively involved, or what skills do you have that might be a good fit for a particular citizen board or group? Next, determine how much time you have to spend. You may not have the many hours it takes to participate in Planning and Zoning, but you may have plenty of time for the Board of Adjustments and Appeals or the Personnel Board.

Lastly, the most important step is to communicate your interests to others. If you decide your interest is to be on a certain advisory group, then unless you communicate your wishes to staff and Council, they will never know that you are the right person for the job.

Our success begins with communication and ends with consistent and active involvement of our citizens. It's this involvement that builds stronger partnerships, more effective representation and results in building a better quality of life for our community.

Additional information regarding opportunities to serve the city of Maitland can be found on our website at www.itsmymaitland.com or by contacting City Clerk Maria Waldrop at 407-539-6219.