Civic engagement summit hits the city

Group organizes event to increase community involvement

BOSTON. The city will host its civic engagement summit Saturday, an event organizers hope will bring together neighborhood leaders and their communities and increase interest in government involvement and voting.

More than 400 people are expected at the summit, which will feature remarks from Mayor Thomas Menino, City Year CEO Alan Khazei and Ron Bell, director of the state’s Office of Civic Engagement.

Among the interactive events is a “21st Century Town Hall Meeting,” run by America Speaks, a nationally-recognized agency, to create a preliminary action plan for the city’s civic revitalization. The non-profit also ran high-profile community events to redevelop Ground Zero in New York City after Sept. 11 and rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Only about 13 percent of Hub residents voted in the November elections, prompting concerns that interest in city government is on the decline. But City Councilor Maureen Feeney, one of the event’s co-chairs, said the small turnout is only part of the reason the summit was organized.

“When we talk about political action, we always think about voting,” Feeney said. “But it’s [also] about people understanding the process, who their elected officials are and how raise their issue to get funding for a project.”