Ignorance can't be an excuse

Before I bought a newspaper, there was a lot I didn’t know about our county and our community functioned. I was happy to work, play and just let the officials officiate. More than six years later, I know more than I ever thought I would. Part of keeping the community informed is going to meetings - lots and lots of meetings. There are budget meetings, council meetings, meetings about ambulance services or meetings about ordinances, and sometimes even meetings about scheduling more meetings.

We go to a lot of meetings, and we do our best to provide important information to our readers. In my ideal world, every person in the county would read every word in The Ledger every week and be informed by all the information we provide. Now, I know many people do not read any words in The Ledger, but there are other ways to get information.

For example, the county commissioners post their weekly calendar on the county website each Friday. Meeting notices are posted in different formats as required by state law. There is always chatter about a variety of topics on social media. Once you find something that is of interest to you or you think might affect you, it’s our responsibility to go get more information.

When we were in school and missed an assignment, it was our responsibility to find out what was taught, get the homework and complete the project. Maybe we had to reach out to classmates or teachers for help understanding the material or more details about the assignment. But ultimately, we were responsible for knowing the information.

As adults, it’s still our responsibility to stay informed. In 2017, there would be one or two community members at city council meetings. Now, it’s not uncommon to have a full house at city hall. It’s been suggested more than once in recent months that the city should go door-to-door whenever there is a change to policies, informing each person affected. That is not a realistic request. The city of Thompson Falls has implemented some new communication tools such as the stickers on the back of water bills informing us of new payment systems or the more recent water restrictions. When the water restrictions were imposed, everyone got a phone message. All city ordinances and meeting agendas are listed on the website. As you can see in this week’s paper, Mayor Jerry Lacy is starting a monthly Ledger column as a new way to communicate with residents.

The city is working to find ways to better communicate with residents, but we still have to do our part to find information. With information being thrown at us everywhere we turn, “I didn’t know” can’t be the answer anymore. — Annie Wooden