Four things to celebrate on the Fourth

We're not yet celebrating the end of the Tremont detention center saga, so what can we celebrate today, the Fourth of July? And which themes from this story should we carry into the future?

• We have local elected officials who are present and take their jobs seriously. The Tremont Township Supervisors, Tremont Borough Council, Schuylkill County Commissioners, and our State Representative have shown up in potentially uncomfortable situations because they saw it as their duty as elected officials. Everyone had to navigate an impending crisis that nobody imagined when they ran for office, and had to face angry constituents on all sides of the detention center issue.
• Journalists helped keep us informed, helped keep local officials honest, uncovered new information, and elevated the voices of Tremont residents and business owners. Local newspapers, independent reporters, local TV news stations, state-focused outlets, and national press outlets devoted time, resources, and creativity to covering the proposed detention center.
• Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act carves out space for the public's voice within local government decision making. Residents' public comments at Schuylkill County Commissioners' meetings kept the detention center issue top of mind, even while we were in a holding pattern with DHS. In this era dominated by online discourse and interactions, public comment periods create human connections between constituents, leaders, and the community.
• Schuylkill County residents showed up to lend support or express opposition, to learn and to educate others, to listen and to be heard. People took time out of their busy lives to attend town halls, commissioners' meetings, borough council meetings, coordination meetings, to talk to reporters, to call their elected officials. Compelled by their own values, people stepped out of their comfort zones and took personal and professional risks.

The common thread is faith: faith that our local institutions and our free press are still worth trusting and engaging with, and faith that we have the power to shape the future of our county, our state, and our country. That's worth celebrating and worth protecting.

Happy Fourth of July!