Civic Literacy Workshop provides a lesson in city and county government to residents

CEDAR RAPIDS - Like many Americans, Tony Schoepske admits he's not a civics expert by any means.

That's why Schoepske, 38, of Marion, decided to spend a part of his weekend getting a refresher course.

He was one of a few dozen people taking part in a Civic Literacy Workshop held Saturday at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. The event was organized by the Cedar Rapids-based advocacy group C.R. Solidarity in Motion with assistance from the Linn County League of Women Voters.

The workshop aimed to help participants better understand government in Linn County and its communities with a goal of encouraging more participation in local agencies, such as boards and commissions, said Valerie Smith, organizer of event and facilitator of C.R. Solidarity in Motion.

'Folks need to at least have the basic understanding of how government works - especially local government, because so much of what we do is guided or facilitated by local government,” said Myrna Loehrlein, president of the Linn County League of Women Voters and a speaker at the event, which took place in Whipple Auditorium. 'I think of things like building permits. That's really our everyday lives.”

The workshop offered sessions on boards and commissions, neighborhood associations, political parities at the county level and taxes.

Each session was led by elected city and county officials, leaders of local political parties and members of boards and commissions, and participants were able to ask questions directly to those involved in local governing bodies.

Schoepske said he wanted to learn how to become more politically active, rather than complain about the decisions of elected officials.

'With the elections last year and the way politics have been going lately, I figured the only way it's going to change is if we get involved individually,” he said.

C.R. Solidarity in Motion was formed after the November presidential election, Smith said. Since then, the group has evolved to focus on coordinating, sharing information with or helping individuals looking to become active in advocacy efforts or local political happenings.

The workshop served as an opportunity to fill a gap the group saw, Smith said. Oftentimes, she said she meets with people who want to be active in local government, but don't necessarily know how city and county government operates.

'There's all kinds of information about what the state legislature is doing and what Congress is doing, but there's not a whole lot about how city and county government works,” Smith said.

Experts say low participation among citizens has been a common trend in recent years. According to CNN, about 55 percent of voting age citizens cast a ballot in the 2016 election, making it the lowest turnout in a presidential election since 1996.

While there's no definitive cause, some argue it comes from a lack of basic understanding of civics. Only about a fourth of high school seniors in 2014 could score well on the U.S. citizenship exam, the test immigrants must take to become naturalized citizens, according to The Atlantic.

Smith said most people she's met in the community focus their attention on national politics, rather than put their energy in local agencies.

'Most of the people that I run into have never really thought about it,” Smith said. 'We do have school board and city elections coming up. I thought it would be better for the community to have an understanding of what city council does and school board does before the election.”

Not only that, but it's local government that citizens can be most connected with, Loehrlein said.

'So, this is really where the rubber hits the road, as they say,” she said.

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