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WHO WE ARE
We are a citizen organization dedicated to helping residents connect directly to their alderman and nuturing community by bringing people together through projects, education, volunteering and fun.
On a personal note....
a letter from Rebecca Martin, founder of KingstonCitizens.org
Definition: Citizenship
Membership in a community that carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. Citizenship status implies responsibilities and duties.
As a touring musician constantly on the move, it wasn't until the birth of my son in 2005 that I began to seek a sense of community in my newfound home of Kingston, NY. Settling far from my roots in rural Maine, I came to understand the repercussions of living apart from family and friends with the arrival of our child. As we all know, it takes a village.
Venturing out into the street with a newborn was an eye-opening and at times terrifying experience as we wove in and out of sidewalks and roadways trying to find a safe path for his walker. Traffic here is treacherous and these very old, small neighborhoods were never meant to accommodate the amount of traffic that they do today. Thus began my incredible journey into making a real commitment to our community, understanding and working within the local politics of the city of Kingston and the ultimate creation of KingstonCitizens.org.
My new heightened awareness in the neighborhood led to the discovery of threatening knives being sold at a convenience store at the end of my block, only a dozen or so houses from my front porch and within close proximity to our local High School and an Elementary school. Though several attempts were made asking that the owner replace them with other ‘collectables’(as he called them), it fell on deaf ears. I was uncertain how to proceed and began to think that perhaps I had relocated to a place that was unfit to raise a child or that did not share my ideals.
It wasn’t long before I discovered I had a voice in someone called an “alderman” that was elected into office by the people of the ward and who were responsible in helping to work to find solutions to problems such as these.
After making a strong effort to connect on that end, I realized that a single voice was not effective enough to swiftly address the situation. Out of frustration I wrote a simple letter, and with the help of friends in the community, some movement in a positive direction was made. I called a meeting that was attended by 100 residents and our current alderman, mayor and chief of police. I was invited to the mayor's office for a meeting with the store's owner the very next day. Within a week, the knives were no longer available for sale. In fact, some of them were classified as illegal weapons and confiscated by the city police. It was a big victory and proof that things could change by a group of concerned residents and a little bit of elbow grease.
I formed the ward 9 community group with the support of my neighbor and new friend Arthur Zackiewicz and began holding monthly meetings for the residents of the Ward. The group hosted many guests and covered a variety of topics (as a side note, the owner of the convenience store became a good neighbor, offering his taxi service at no charge to transport the ward's elderly and disabled to our meetings). In our becoming organized, we experienced the power of our combined voices. We lobbied legislation and ideas (ie: a proposed mandatory leaf bagging law and partnering with the city to update a citywide comprehensive plan), initiated community projects (Kingston Food and Gardens , The Kingston Land Trust, The Kingston Victory Gardens Project) and built trust through consistency, education and timeliness. We came to understand that our aldermen not only work within their respective wards, but also sit on the common council - a seat that comes with a great deal of responsibility and affects all of our lives in a profound way. It occurred to us that it wasn't enough to be familiar with our ward 9 alderman if we were concerned for the city as a whole. All nine aldermen, through their council duties, have the ultimate word on the future here. Though our ward was doing good works, the progress of Kingston relied on constituents in all wards taking the same kind of initiative.
How could we accomplish this?
KingstonCitizens.org is a very important starting point. It is a tool to access information from every ward, laid out in a simple and comprehensive site. It includes current information on our aldermen, maps of the city, on-line community groups, news about upcoming local events and votes, links to municipal agendas, local initiatives and more. It outlines the important role that we all play in the health of the City while enabling the user to become as active as they want to be. Through this work, we hope to encourage generations of Kingston citizens to care for and take pride in their city.
At such a confusing time in our country's history, let us begin by making needed changes within our local community. In "cleaning up our own backyard", we create a new sense of empowerment which can lead to the changes we long for on a local, national and even international level.
We are proud to live in the city of Kingston. It is a uniquely beautiful place nestled in the Catskill Mountains and embodies a rich history and a wonderful and diverse mix of people. As good stewards, it is our responsibility to protect and preserve these virtues. It is also important to guard our good fortune as citizens living in a democratic society where our voices have meaning. We must never take this for granted.
I’d like to thank all of those who have been instrumental in this process, especially Larry Grenadier, Arthur Zackiewicz, Jennifer McKinley-Rakov, Jennifer Schwartz, Lowell Thing, Jim Svetz and all at The Muddy Cup, Bob Jones and all at The Coach House Players, Aldermen Bill Reynolds, Bob Senor, Mike Madsen and the City of Kingston; , The Kingston Times, Debbie Brown, Lawrence McCauley, Julie and Steve Noble, all of the past guests of the Ward 9 Community Group meetings and all of the residents who volunteer their time to make our neighborhood a better one.
A very special thank you Mark Greene and Beth Bengtson who gave so much of their own personal time and expertise in creating this site.
We are in good company here. All we need to do now is connect with one another. The rest will come.
Rebecca Martin
Founder
KingstonCitizens.org
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