There are three reasons that the general public attends public municipal meetings — to engage, enrage, and enjoy. The Lycoming County Board of Commissioners meets twice weekly with occasional exceptions due to holidays or training events. The Tuesday meeting is a “work session,” meaning that the commissioners review the items that will be voted on during the “regular session,” which would be held on the following Thursday.

The Tuesday meeting is, by far, the more interesting to attend from an informational standpoint. When county directors or their representatives present their funding requests, the commissioners will ask questions, often in a “what if?” scenario, challenging the county employees to imagine if their request were modified or turned down, what the consequences or alternatives could be. The exchanges are almost always civil, and sometimes quite lively.

But what makes this time so interesting is that in some cases, members of the general public offer their own points of the view on the subject. These are the Engaged who know something of the issue or at least have an interest and offer their opinion on the subject. Technically, these individuals should wait until “public comments” are offered at the end of the meeting, but the commissioners bend the protocol because they genuinely appreciate hearing from citizens who are impacted by their decisions.

The Engaged are generally single individuals, but the Enraged often come out in force. In the past, issues such as the $5.00 license fee and visitor bureau taxes brought dozens to a meeting at a time, and they did not come in a good mood. The Enraged prefer to come to the regular Thursday session, probably because it gets more attention. They speak with great passion, generally because these issues were quite personal to them. And since these are generally quite dramatic, they bring out others who just want to “enjoy.” (I must admit, I also take rather guilty pleasure out of these more impassioned meetings).

Not surprisingly, members of the Engaged and the Enraged find themselves in public office. The Enraged often struggle as they find that it is much harder to solve problems than to point them out. The Engaged, on the other hand, make the best of public servants.

One of the best examples of an Engaged man who took an active role in local political affairs was the recently deceased Dave Eakin. Mr. Eakin lived in Montgomery, where he spent the good portion of his life. He was married for nearly 54 years and along with his wife, Louise, raised three children, with four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He worked most of his career as an independent insurance agent, most recently as Regional Vice President of the Henry Dunn Agency.

Yet as busy as he was with work and family, he found time to volunteer on the boards of many local organizations, such as the West Branch Builder’s Association, Horizon Federal Credit Union, the Williamsport Chamber of Commerce, and even on various committees and governing council of his church. I knew Dave in his role on the Clinton Township Planning Commission and his chairmanship of the West Branch Regional Sewer Authority. Dave Eakin was admired by all for his wisdom and his ability to deal with problems. He had an incredible ability to speak so objectively on issues; it was hard to tell which side of an issue he stood on.

Many in this county will miss Dave Eakin greatly. We need more like him who would be willing to serve, not for glory or personal gain, but for the greater good.