Politics has been described as the art of horse-trading, and trying to please everyone while accomplishing what you want is not an easy task.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Politics has been described as the art of horse-trading, and trying to please everyone while accomplishing what you want is not an easy task.
That’s what Lawrence High School rising seniors Garrett Falk and Patrick Lavery, along with classmate Viktor Krapivin, learned by the end of the 68th annual American Legion Jersey Boys State, held at Rider University June 16-21.
American Legion Jersey Boys State is an outgrowth of the American Legion Boys State, which was formed in 1935 to counter the Communist Party’s “Young Pioneer Camps.” The goal of those camps was to show the uselessness of democracy and to promote communism.
American Legion Boys State stresses the importance of the United States’ democratic form of government and the need to preserve it. Teenagers learn about the democratic process through the hands-on experience of seeking election to public office and operating a municipal, county or state government at Boys State.
The Statesmen, as the Boys State attendees are known, went to many seminars offered during the week — from information on careers in business, real estate, journalism and technology to politics, public administration and the military.
Patrick was already aware of the American Legion Jersey Boys State program, because his father and his uncle both participated in it. Garrett learned about the program while he was exploring the college application process, and it was suggested to him that it would be good to attend it.
Nearly 1,000 boys, all of whom had completed their junior year in high school, attended Jersey Boys State last month. Once they arrived on campus, they were quickly assigned to one of 18 “cities” made up of 50 to 60 boys each. They learned how government works — from the city to the county to the state levels — and elected their own governing bodies at each level.
The boys learned about the different forms of government, such as the strong mayor and the weak mayor forms. The city form was easy to decide, said Garrett, who was elected to be mayor of Monroe City. He worked with the Monroe City Council to craft a manual of ordinances, which took much time and effort.
”As a mayor, I learned how to make decisions – ‘Is this the thing that I want to do’ — in a rush,” Garrett said. “I got my advice from City Council, but it was up to me (to decide). You have to be willing to take an action. It opened my eyes to what I really need to do to make a decision.”
The governing body — whether it is the mythical Monroe City or the real-life Lawrence Township — makes real decisions that have an impact on people’s lives, Garrett said. Monroe City was a large industrial city whose industries were on the decline, he said. The City Council had to come up with a plan to encourage the residents to stay and to promote growth.
Patrick served on the governing body of his city, where he worked on preparing the budget. The boys were given a real city budget, he said. They had to learn how to balance the budget, he said, adding that “it was interesting to see where money is spent in an actual town.”
One of the lessons he learned, Patrick said, is how hard it is to please everyone. He learned how to deal with differing opinions and to let everyone’s voice be heard. The City Council has to take action, but there is much discussion that takes place before a decision is reached, he said.
”I didn’t think about it before Boys State, but governing is a noble thing to do,” Patrick said. “You have to like to do it to be involved in government. It doesn’t pay much, but on any level of government, you are making a difference.”
”It’s a lot of work and you have to think about it — about doing all of this work. But it definitely seems like an interesting position,” he said, when he was asked whether he would run for elected office some day.
As for Garrett, the experience of serving as the mayor of a city was all about being organized and making certain that “things run okay. You have to check up on the guys. I also learned how hard it is to remember 55 names,” he said, adding that by the end of the week, “it seemed like I knew everyone (in my city).”
”I made a lot of friendships. I won’t forget the friendships. I’m sure I’ll see one of the guys down the road, in the future, and I’ll say, ‘Hey, I remember you from Boys State,’” Garrett said.

