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Citizenship in the Community MERIT BADGE PROGRAM. CITIZENSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY. An Eagle Required Badge
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CITIZENSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY • An Eagle Required Badge • Camping, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Cycling, Emergency Preparedness, Environmental Science, Family Life, First Aid, Hiking, Lifesaving, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Swimming
WHY IS IT EAGLE REQUIRED? • Citizenship and Community values are what are scouts are all about: • I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to help other people at all times - it all starts at home! • Knowing the history of the community and the meaning of good citizenship will give you an appreciation of what those good and thoughtful citizens accomplished during their lifetimes to get us to where we are. We should be very grateful. • The sacrifices, ideas, & efforts are good examples for what you need to do to carry on to help improve our community, the nation, and the world. (Think of it as the ripple effect.) • Sometimes these things can be taken for granted. It is good to stop & think on occasion about this topic. When you look at this merit badge sewn on your sash, think about our community, how you are an important part of it, and how you need to be a good citizen to make life better for everyone.
MERIT BADGE REQUIREMENTS CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY • Describe your community to your counselor giving: • A short history • Cultures and ethnic groups • Major places of employment • What is the future of your community? • Mark or point out on a map of your community the following: • Chief government buildings such as your city hall, county courthouse, and public works / services facility • Fire station, police station, and hospital nearest your home • Schools, churches, and synagogues near your home • Main highways to neighboring cities and towns • Nearest railroads and bus stations and airport, if any • Chief industries or other major places of employment • Historical and other interesting points • Do the following: • Chart the organization of your local or state government. Show the top offices and tell which are elected or appointed. (go to www.hopkinton.org) • Name the political parties in your community government and list four persons active in the politics of your community and what positions they hold. TODAY WEEK 2
MERIT BADGE REQUIREMENTS 5. Attend ONE of the following: • County or parish board meeting • School board meeting • City council meeting (Selectman Meeting) • Municipal, county, or state court session • After visiting the governmental meeting, obtain a copy of that body's published budget. Review the major sources of income and expenses for its operation with your counselor. • List the services your community provides to the citizens in return for the taxes paid by you and your parents. • Select a city, county, or school problem or issue under consideration from the local newspaper or news broadcast (www.hopnews.com) and write a letter expressing your views to the mayor, administrator, or school board president. Show this letter and any response to your counselor. • List and describe the work of five volunteer organizations through which people in your community work together for the good of your community. • Tell how to report an accident or an emergency in your community. • List five ways you can demonstrate good citizenship in your community, religious institution, school, or Scouting unit. See hopkinton.org for schedule 2 Items 3-11 do as homework for week 2. We could finish if everyone does a little work and we stay on schedule. We’ll do as scout lead exercises at the next meeting.
KEEPING IT INTERESTING: • Week 3 or 4 (Sat or Sun): Local hike • Falls at Lake Whitehall mill pond to Mineral Springs? • Downtown Fire and Police tour? • Shaker Community in Harvard, MA? • Other ideas? • Merit badges should be awarded at Dec COH • Follow on Options • Citizenship in the Nation • Citizenship in the World • Emergency Prep • Fire Safety • Public Health • Crime Prevention/Fingerprinting
REQUIREMENTS + = COMPLETED WORK SHEETS LEARNING SOMETHING NEW (FUN IS AUTHORIZED)
COMMUNITIES Communities are: • Places where people actively share common interests.
HOW DO COMMUNITIES DEVELOP? • Mill or factory towns, commerce centers • Melting pots or shared cultures/religions • Beach communities • Isolation or natural beauty • Gold rush, oil exploration, coal mining, other resource extraction (people go where money is to be made!) • Experiments – utopian societies, settlements • Others?
WHAT BRINGS PEOPLE TO OUR TOWN NOW? • Small town atmosphere with town green, white church, historic buildings, no excessive commercial development. • Good schools • Nice neighborhoods, at one point affordable • Town conveniences and services • Cultural and financial demographics • Access • What else?
TOWN FINANCES(THE GOOD LIFE DOES NOT COME FOR FREE) FUNDING AVAILABLE • Budget vs. Taxes & Fees • Real Estate • Personal Property • Here is how it works: • Step 1, town looks at what they want to do and how much money they forecast coming in. They are only allowed to increase the amount they receive from property taxes by 2 ½ because of a ballot petition passed in Massachusetts several years ago. These must balance. • Step 2, review income streams. Residual amount comes from real estate taxes. • Step 3, assess value of all houses and businesses n town. • Some towns have a dual tax rate, business v. residential (we don’t), why do you think? • Step 4, divide amount needed ($/millions) by the total combined ($/million) assessed value. • Example: $53.5m is our town budget. They get $18m from fees and other sources. This leaves $35.5 needed from property taxes. • Assume 4,444 households in town with an average home value of $300,000. 4444 x 300k = $1.33B of home value is available for tax assessment. It is also know that the business have a value of $1.42B. This means that 1.33B+ 1.42B = 2.75B of taxable assets (“all the houses and businesses in town are worth $2.75B”) If they need $35.5m of tax revenue, 35.5m/2.75B= $12.90 per $1000 of property value is what we pay (m/1000m = 1/1000). Per this, an average home pays 300x12.9=$3870. We also have long term debt budget exclusions we pay for & this uses approximations, $4500 is closer to what we really pay). • Do people who rent pay? (yes, it should be factored into rent payment) • Out of 351 communities, last estimate I’ve seen was that we are 26th from top in taxes paid. SERVICES WANTED
FUTURE OF OUR TOWN • What do you think is the future of our town? • Growth? • Business? • Downtown? • Traffic? • Town Property? • Diversification? • Affordability? • Recreation?
FUTURE OF OUR TOWN?Read on – Is this good citizenship or what! • Summary of Hopkinton Forum • On February 28 and March 1, 2003, 108 citizens of Hopkinton came together to share their visions for the town. They represented a full range of the town’s population, from high school seniors to senior citizens, newcomers to old-timers, and organizational representatives to citizens-at-large. The purpose of the event was not to reach decisions about the town’s future, but rather to begin a process of engaging citizens in reflecting on where they want the town to go and how they could get there. • The participants were supported by 15 volunteer facilitators from the town, representatives of the Board of Selectmen, and David Peter Stroh, a professional facilitator from Bridgeway Partners in Lexington. The meeting was hosted by Ron Eldridge, Chairman of the Civic Engagement Committee, which organized the event, and Eric Sonnett, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. • What the participants wanted to get most from the forum was a sense of community – to think together in terms of “our agenda” instead of special interests, and to learn how democratic government can really work. They wanted to learn from each other – to listen as well as be heard, to understand the whole community instead of only its parts, and to experience communication without argument. They also wanted more data about town demographics, trends, and issues. Finally, they wanted a sense of momentum and follow-through that included clear action items and information they could take back to others in the town. • Equally important, they wanted to contribute their values, expertise, and creative ideas to make the meeting a success. In keeping with the goal of greater community, they wanted to create a better situation for the town as a whole, be part of the solution, and learn from different peoples’ perspectives. They proposed decision-making criteria of fairness and frugality – recognizing that resources must be shared wisely and equitably for them to feel good about their community. They wanted to share their expertise – bringing both expert knowledge and process skills. They also wanted to propose funding priorities considerate of the population as a whole and make recommendations about how to achieve these priorities.
HOPKINTON’S OFFICIAL MASTER PLAN The Master Plan The Hopkinton Planning Board has appointed a Master Plan Committee (MPC) consisting of Hopkinton residents. Our goal is to update the existing 1999 Master Plan for the Town’s growth and development. The Plan is updated every five years in order to keep it relevant and dynamic. The Master Plan addresses land use, economic development, natural resources (open space, recreation, historic and cultural), housing, transportation, community facilities & services, all with regard given to cost and environmental impact. The Plan provides a vision for Hopkinton that includes goals, objectives, implementation, responsibilities, timelines and benchmarks for measuring success. The Plan serves as a strategic tool to help guide the future direction and focus for all Town Boards, while assisting in monitoring the actions taken to implement its recommendations, and raise issues that need to be addressed in coming years. The content of the Master Plan is derived by soliciting the wishes, suggestions and concerns from the residents of Hopkinton. Surveys and public forums will be utilized to seek answers to such important questions as: What are the resident’s wishes and common objectives? How best can Hopkinton achieve the future outcome we desire? What might happen to our Town in the future? What will the costs be? The 1999 Master Plan is available by contacting the Planning Board Office in the Town Hall.
PROBLEM OR ISSUE FACED IN OUR TOWN • Is what you see as the future of our town what you’d like to see? • What can you do to help make it happen or change it if you’re not in agreement? • Requirement – find a news article, consider issue, write to selectman, administrator, or school board president expressing your views.
CITIZENSHIP • What is a citizen and what makes a good citizen? • What can you do to be a good citizen? • Participate… • Vote… • Play by the rules… • Take care of others… • Environmental stewardship… • Kindness, courtesy, acceptance… • Church… • School… • Scouts… • Community Service….
CITIZENSHIP • Why are some people apathetic about voting and community service? • Sense of “disenfranchisement” • Too busy • Uninformed and maybe not motivated to learn • Upset and vocal about high taxes • It is important to remember these people aren’t bad people. It is more important that we stay positive and just work harder for everyone. • Is there such a thing as a corporate citizen?
DEMOGRAPHICS • Hopkinton is a town located in southwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts , about 40 km (25 mi) from Boston . As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 13,346. Hopkinton was incorporated in 1715, and still retains its original town meeting form of government and is governed by a town board government. The town's day-to-day affairs are overseen by a Board of Selectmen. Hopkinton is best known as the starting point of the Boston Marathon , held annually on Patriot's Day in April, and as the home of computer storage firm EMC Corporation . • According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 72.9 km² (28.2 mi² ). 68.8 km² (26.6 mi²) of it is land and 4.2 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 5.82% water. Demographics • As of the census of 2000 , there are 13,346 people, 4,444 households, and 3,621 families residing in the town. The population density is 194.0/km² (502.5/mi²). There are 4,548 housing units at an average density of 66.1 persons/km² (171.2 persons/mi²). • The racial makeup of the town is 96.33% White, 0.69% African American , 0.15% Native American , 1.66% Asian , 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. 1.33% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. • There are 4,444 households out of which 49.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.4% are married couples living together, 6.1% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 18.5% are non-families. 15.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.97 and the average family size is 3.33. • In the town the population is spread out with 33.1% under the age of 18, 3.4% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.9 males. • The median income for a household in the town is $89,281, and the median income for a family is $102,550. Males have a median income of $71,207 versus $42,360 for females. The per capita income for the town is $41,469. 1.7% of the population and 1.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 1.4% are under the age of 18 and 3.4% are 65 or older. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Hopkinton%20%28town%29,%20Massachusetts
ONE AMONGST 351 COMMUNITIES 43 cities and 308 towns
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS President George Bush Governor Mitt Romney (R) Judiciary Congress Selectmen Eric Sonnett (Chairman)Paul Nelson Ronald ClarkLeonard HoldenMary C. Pratt State Senate Karen Spilka (D) State House Paul Losccoco (R) House of Representatives Senate LOCAL RULES Ted Kennedy (D) James McGovern 3rd District (D) John Kerry (D) STATE RULES FEDERAL RULES 3rd District
