Scouting out town meetings

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

By sandi carpello
Staff Writer

JAMESBURG — With some fidgeting and others more attentive, the members of Boy Scout Troop No. 54 received a crash course in the local government process last week.

Clad in uniform, more than half of the troop’s 40 members, all boys age 11 to 17 from Jamesburg and Monroe Township, attended the Nov. 13 Borough Council meeting as a prerequisite for receiving their Eagle Citizenship and Community Service merit badge.

"This is the first time in years I have taken a troop to a council meeting," Scoutmaster Jim Toth said. "They volunteered to go. They wanted to work on that specific merit badge."

Attending a town council meeting helps to fulfill the criteria required for achieving the highly coveted rank of Eagle. The Scouts will also write a brief history of the town, identify all of its major landmarks on a map, and write to an elected official about an important issue, Toth said.

To become a full-fledged Eagle Scout, the Scouts must also complete a project for the benefit of their community.

With the Scouts present, Councilman John Longo took the opportunity to urge the youngsters to become involved in both their school and the community. He also emphasized the importance of voting.

"In a few years, you will be old enough to vote," Longo told them. "We don’t have enough people who vote in this community as it is. Be involved."

Prior to the meeting, the Scouts had limited knowledge of how local government operates, Toth said. They didn’t understand, for example, that the Borough Council was separate from the Board of Education, Toth said.

Mayor Anthony LaMantia and Councilman Joseph Jennings took the time to explain how the process works, defined terms the Scouts may have been unfamiliar with, and answered questions they had.

Senior Patrol Leader Kevin Houle, 16, of Monroe, who had never been to a town council meeting before, said the experience opened his eyes to the political process.

"I found it interesting. I didn’t know how it all worked," he said.