Civic associations provide a collective voice for residents to address local issues with their municipalities, gather socially and get to know their neighbors better. Much like other community organizations, these groups are experiencing continuous, dynamic change as demographics and priorities shift.
The purpose of a civic association is to bridge the gap between an individual resident and their local government. They try to preserve the character of the community and safeguard its quality of life from overdevelopment and disrepair. “A civic association primarily helps to guide a community with communication with both local town government as well as higher up … We are trying to protect our community, get them as much public services that might be available, or making sure that the things that the local government are doing coincides with what the community wants,” said Yvonne Duffy, second vice president of membership for the New Suffolk Civic Association.
New Suffolk is one of the oldest associations on the North Fork. Membership in this association is somewhat constrained by the size of the village, which is one of the smallest in Southold. “This year we have 85 members. Last year we had 99, 87 the year before. So it goes up and down depending on what’s going on in our community. But we’re pretty consistent up and down by just a little bit. But we don’t have the ability to tap into more people, since we have a very limited number of residents who actually are here [consistently].”
Chris Shashkin, member of both the Captain Kidd Civic Association and Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association, echoed this sentiment. “Members come, they join, but maybe it’s not a good fit for them, or they’re no longer interested, so they leave. Then they get new members. There’s always a core group of people who come to meetings and are interested. And then I guess you could say there are bystanders. I think that’s true for most groups, you have people who are very, very active, and then people who are kind of semi-active.”
Individual membership at the Greater Jamesport Civic Association is actually increasing and has doubled in the last four years. Business membership is also up by 30%, according to Joan Cear, the group’s recording secretary. “Local issues spark interest, and they spark membership increases, and they spark engagement. People want to understand the issues, and sometimes they want to know how they can get involved. They want to know what they can do, and the civic association is a great place for people to start,” said Ms. Cear.
The Cutchogue Civic Association, a young organization that just concluded its second year, is also experiencing steady growth. “Our recruitment has gone really well. We currently have 129 members, which we think is a really healthy number. We launched a membership campaign this past month, and we have 31 renewals and 17 new members. So we’re actually in good shape in terms of membership,” said Carolyn McCall, president.
Local civic associations have helped with a number of issues, ranging from the recent defeat of the agri-tourism resorts and preserving historic sites, to preventing sand mine operations, to repairing the town clock and removing sand deposited by storm surge.
The Greater Jamesport Civic Association’s most recent accomplishment is forming a Blue Ribbon Advisory Board for preservation. “A lot of these improvements come from the residents. It’s great to have a place where the residents and say, ‘Can you help to get this fixed?’ Because, you know, when you have a civic association members working together, and it can be sometimes more effective than just one person,” said Ms. Cear. “Sometimes the town isn’t aware that there’s an issue, because it can’t be everywhere once. And sometimes they just don’t know how important it is to that community.”
So far, Cutchogue’s efforts have been more informational. The organization sees education as their primary mission. They have hosted talks on land preservation, the town parks, battery storage and there is an upcoming event with the highway department. “There is an important role for us to play in this community now, [as] a mechanism whereby people can be better informed about the challenges we face here, with respect to over development, climate change, those kinds of issues,” said Barbara Butterworth, chair of the Cutchogue Civic Association’s program committee.
Beyond their effect on local government, civic organizations let residents get to know one another and find common ground. Most associations hold socials, community yard sales, and other events that bring people together. The New Suffolk Civic Association helps host the Independence day parade. The Greater Jamesport Civic Association raised enough money to distribute two $1,000 scholarships last year.
Ms. Duffy encourages residents to get involved with their local association as part of their commitment to their community. “This beautiful, special place that we have, in order to preserve that and to keep it from over development, from more pollution — which will ruin things — you have to be involved to some extent, and not just when a problem pops up that is affecting you personally. It has to be all the time,” she said and added, “If everybody contributes a little bit, then it gets done easily and quickly, and it’s easier on everyone.”
Local civic associations:
A new civic association for Greenport is in the works, looking to launch in the new year. More news on that a later date.