Press of Atlantic City
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

More than 300 people came to Richard Stockton College of New Jersey on Tuesday evening to learn how to become leaders in their communities and cut wasteful spending.

The South Jersey Call to Service Summit was sponsored by the nonprofit Citizens' Campaign. The group's literature says its goal is "to replace New Jersey's culture of corruption with a culture of service, represented by thousands of new leaders committed to an honest, cost-effective government."

"This is not a good-government meeting, this is not a civics class," Chairman Harry Pozycki told the assembled group. "This is a call to come and conquer the fraud and waste that plagues our state." About two-thirds of tax money in New Jersey is spent at the municipal, school board and county levels, Pozycki said. There are four paths ordinary people can follow, without running for office, to influence their local governments and help cut wasteful spending. They are:

* Seek appointment to one of many local boards
*Become active in the local Democratic or Republican parties, and get on the county committee
*Be a "citizen legislator" by making educated proposals to local government bodies
*Become a "citizen journalist" and go to meetings of the governing bodies and asking the right questions and reporting them to the community.

The attendees then split off into four groups to learn more about one of these four paths. Those who completed Tuesday night's class and wanted to continue would be provided with a mentor to get them started, Pozycki said.