by Michael Weiser
October 19, 2009
One of the best parts of my role as chair of the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) – the only organization chartered by Congress to encourage Americans to become active and engaged citizens – is the opportunities I get to thank Americans for their service. I’ve just spent the last couple of days with two exceptional citizens, Bob Graham and Lou Frey. Graham, of course, is the former two-term Florida governor and three-term US senator. Frey, who served on active duty in the Navy and retired as a captain in the US Naval Reserve, represented an Orlando-area congressional district for five terms, until his retirement in 1979. Graham, a Democrat, and Frey, a Republican, co-head the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and have worked cooperatively for years in the interests of civic engagement in Florida. They have taken on a tough job. Florida ranks 46th among the states in its civic health (according to the 2009 Florida Civic Health Index released this week by the Florida Joint Center and NCoC), taking into account rates of voter participation, volunteerism, contributions to charitable organizations and participation in solving community problems. Even worse, the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area ranks 50th out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the US in civic participation. But take it on they do, with all of the passion of two aging Vaudevillians who still know how to capture an audience. Neither has anything to prove. At ages that find most Americans with their feet up, these “Sunshine Boys” have taken on the job of rallying Florida’s hodgepodge of immigrants, snowbirds, surfers, clubbers and seniors to take seriously their jobs as citizens. They are at their best speaking to kids about their roles as citizens. Their talk to 100 Miami Edison High students is relevant to 16- and 17-year-olds who tune into their message about working together to strengthen their Little Haiti community. It’s a high compliment to their energy and passion that these kids, and the 75 or so Vista and AmeriCorps volunteers we met on Thursday, want their pictures taken with the Sunshine Boys. In a state so obviously in need of civic leadership, they are the model and they are not alone. Thursday, I also had the pleasure of sharing a panel discussion at Miami-Dade College with one Carmine Priore, the Vice Mayor of Wellington, FL who has headed the Florida League of Cities for the last two years. Carmine, too, has a passion that’s hard not to admire. After retiring as a dentist in 1992, he began a second career in public service by being elected to the Acme Improvement Board of Supervisors. Perhaps it is less glamorous than being a US Senator but it was Carmine’s chance to serve. For 17 years, he has focused his energies on making local government work and his fellow Floridians are the better for it. Like Graham and Frey, Carmine chose not to slip into an easy retirement; quite to the contrary. Public service is his retirement. “Everyone has something to contribute,” Graham is fond of saying. Imagine how much stronger Florida — indeed America — could be if other seniors and other Floridians followed the lead of Carmine and the Sunshine Boys. Thank you, gentlemen, for your service. Michael Weiser is chairman of the National Conference on Citizenship