We expect the town officials we elected last week to collectively serve us in ways that are spelled out in detail in our town charter. We also expect them to serve as our proxies at long, and often boring, meetings we really would rather not attend. We do a lot of boring things in our lives: grocery shopping, raking leaves, (some) school assemblies, (some) school classes, waiting in lines for any number of errands. These are all tasks that suck time from our days and weeks. We do them, though, because we know, ultimately, they benefit us.

But municipal meetings seem onerous, and yet optional; we have elected people to attend them on our behalf and to attend to the benefits we expect from them. The Board of Education, Board of Finance, Legislative Council, Planning and Zoning Commission, Police Commission, and Board of Selectmen and more than a dozen other commissions and boards sit in municipal meeting rooms week after week, year-round to take up the business of both guiding and serving a community. Sometimes the issues they discuss are compelling and consequential, but there is a lot of minutiae to attend to, as well.

Consequently, public meetings have erratic attendance. At the last community forum hosted by Superintendent of Schools Joseph Erardi, Jr, on school safety, administrators and reporters nearly outnumbered residents. A recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, on the other hand, drew nearly four dozen citizens, concerned about developments in Hawleyville. With no controversy, meetings can be far less interesting, but are, nonetheless, a source of valuable information.

It is clear from letters to the editor, social media comments, and daily interactions that people in town have great ideas and strong opinions about everything from finance to recreation to conservation and the arts. Those serving on the various boards and commissions in Newtown do care what the townspeople think. Regular feedback from a residents allows them to make decisions with a broader sense of public concerns and priorities — followed, of course, by public criticism when they get it wrong.

These days, it is hard to imagine setting aside one or two precious, free evenings to sit through municipal meetings. Yet these generically boring meetings can be specifically interesting. Their agendas run the gamut of interests, including, quite possibly, something of special interest to you and your family or neighborhood: education, conservation, business opportunities, sports, or cultural programs. Having a true interest in how a board moves forward in an area of special interest can make for an engaging evening. No doubt, a commitment to follow a particular board or commission will mean witnessing the dreary along with the drama. When residents dedicate themselves to a cause and attend public meetings, they become the all-essential window washers of a transparent government.

Visit newtown-ct.gov and pick a meeting that has personal appeal. Promise yourself you will attend a meeting, speak your mind, and carry that information back to friends and family. It might not be the most exciting thing you do in a month. You might, however, become part of exciting changes in our small part of the world.