PERTH AMBOY – The Citizens Campaign is seeking applications from Perth Amboy residents interested in becoming Civic Trustees – Trustees who work together to identify and gain adoption of proven solutions for problems facing their City. Civic Trustees will be members of the Perth Amboy Civic Trust, formerly Impact Perth Amboy. Civic Trustees and the Perth Amboy Civic Trust will receive significant support from The Citizens Campaign’s top government lawyers, urban policy experts and experienced political coaches. They will be trained to use the power levers of local government to get results on the issues they care about.
They will develop and advance their solutions within the four guiding principles of the Civic Trust- the solutions must be: (1) cost-effective (2) evidence-based (3) of benefit to the City as a whole and (4) implemented with a “no blame” approach.
Perth Amboy and Trenton are the first two cities in which The Citizens Campaign is launching this innovative, new approach to building a powerful problem-solving force for cities across the State. Harry Pozycki, The Citizens Campaign Chair, said, “It’s an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of creating a new and powerful civic force to take on the tough challenges that Perth Amboy faces. It gives interested and committed citizens a way to use their own skills, talents and ideas to forge and advance solutions, all aimed at bringing about a better Perth Amboy, without having to run for office.” He went on to say, “We are asking people to take the civic challenge, by making the Civic Pledge that they will work together to leave their City better than when they found it.”
Trustees will have monthly meetings to find solutions for Perth Amboy, drawing on ideas that have succeeded in other cities. Meetings are limited (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) during which dinner is served with no charge. There are no meetings in August or December.
Perth Amboy was selected as one of the two pioneering cities for this effort, according to The Citizens Campaign, because of the impressive number of committed and effective citizen leaders that have been participating in Impact Perth Amboy and their record of substantial success. These include conducting a survey with more than 500 respondents that is advancing school discipline policies that have proven to dramatically improve graduation rates; creating the Perth Amboy Green Team for environmental sustainability and the new City Arts Council. These successes and others that are in the works convinced The Citizens Campaign that Perth Amboy could lead New Jersey’s cities by providing an example of civic leadership second to none.
The Citizens Campaign is accepting applications for Perth Amboy Civic Trustees on a rolling basis until Monday, February 23, 2015. Applications may be filled out online at www.thecitizenscampaign.org or printed and mailed to The Citizens Campaign, ATTN: Civic Trust Selection Committee, 450 Main Street, Metuchen, NJ, 08840.
