Mar 10, 2025 —
Typically, there’s not much competition for a seat at St. Lawrence County’s Board of Legislators meetings.
So, as I walk into the county courthouse for one of the first meetings of the year in January, I’m a little surprised to bump into a small group of people, including John Casserly of Canton.
He tells me he and a few fellow members of the St. Lawrence County Democrats are here for the meeting, too.
“We made a New Year’s resolution in the committee that we were going to attempt to come to the majority of the of the legislative meetings,” Casserly said.
That’s ironic, because I’ve sort of made the same resolution.
Local governments make some of the biggest impacts on our day-to-day lives. Their decisions affect our roads, environment, schools, taxes and more. So this year, I’m focusing some of my coverage on St. Lawrence County. I’ll report on the meetings, the decisions, the people and departments that make up the government, and how citizens can get more involved.
Julie Parkman says she wanted to start going to meetings regularly to counteract how disheartened she is with the country’s political climate.
“There’s such a great divide between Republicans and Democrats,” Parkman said. “So maybe meeting people where they’re at, and how we all have the same goal in the place that we live, might help with communication and understanding each other. And hopefully, maybe find other people interested who may want to run and participate, too.”
That’s something local politicians are hoping for. At the first legislative meeting of the year, Board Chair David Forsythe urged more people to get involved.
“Many people sit there as Monday quarterbacks and they’ll throw stones and they’ll say this and that. And the first thing I say is step up and do it. Don’t stand on the sidelines, get in the game. Run for chair, run for legislature, run for something, run for town board,” Forsythe said at the Jan. 2 meeting.
In the last general election, the majority of local races in the North Country were uncontested. People aren’t getting involved in politics, even at the entry-level.
Some think that partially stems from our polarized political landscape. I asked Forsythe about that.
“I think people watch television and watch the disconnect, they watched the fighting amongst parties, and it kind of puts a black eye on it, I guess I would say,” he said. “But I think, once you get involved, when people do these things for the right reasons, to make a difference, I think that’s what matters the most.”
Forsythe says “getting involved” in local government doesn’t mean you have to run for office. You can apply for an appointment to an advisory board based on your interest or expertise, or attend meetings and make public comments.
But few people do and it’s been that way for a while. That’s according to Peter FitzRandolph, who was a St. Lawrence County legislator from 1993 to 2010.
FitzRandolph says in the past, the community was likely more informed about what was happening because of local journalism.
“In the early part of my tenure on the board, there was very detailed, very professional press coverage, both in the print media and through local television,” he said.
FitzRandolph says reporters were following the issues week by week, and that kept people up to date. But over time, local news in the North Country has shrunk, as the whole industry struggles to survive in rural communities.
John Casserly says that’s one of the reasons he wanted to start coming to meetings consistently.
“You have a loss of local news, so who knows what goes on in these meetings,” Casserly said. “Local news agencies are stretched thin. They just can’t cover all these things: school board meetings, town meetings, planning board meetings, village meetings, legislative meetings.”
FitzRandolph says we have to resist apathy because local government is the place where individuals have the most impact.
“Very few of us have any real say at this point other than our vote for president or the Senate or the House of Representatives about national policy, for example,” he said. “But at the local level, it’s a place where I think people’s voices can really make a difference, and I think it’s really important for people to get educated and express their opinions about local matters.”
Julie Parkman agrees. She says attending county legislature meetings has been illuminating. She’s seeing how the lawmakers are working through problems.
“We’re all trying to live in this county as productively as possible and we need to stand and support each other and understand it. It’s just too easy to point fingers and blame people, but having context really helps,” Parkman said.
She says participation is a critical component of the democratic process and it’s worth the extra effort.
“When complacency happens, or I’m too tired to do this and show up, that’s when democracy can slip,” Parkman said.
You can find the Board of Legislators’ meeting schedule on the St. Lawrence County website. That includes the agendas and recordings to playback.
I’m following along all year, so send in your questions about local government and St. Lawrence County, ideas, and tips to [email protected].
