Why Bother with Civics?

Welcome to The Citizen’s Playbook, an 18-part audio journey created to transform civics from a passive subject into an active tool. This series is a user manual for our
democracy, specifically tailored for the citizens of Georgia. We believe that understanding the rules of the game is the first and most critical step toward making a meaningful impact. It’s the difference between feeling frustrated by a problem and feeling empowered to help solve it.

This episode's goal is to establish civics not as a historical subject, but as an essential, empowering user manual for modern life in Georgia.

Our featured guest for Episode One is Michele NeSmith, Research and Policy Development Director at the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation.

Each episode in this series will end with a specific call to action. Your first assignment: Visit the official state website, Georgia.gov. On that site, you can find a tool to look up your elected officials. We want you to find just two: your State Representative and your County Commissioner. You don't have to call them or write to them yet. Just learn their names.

🎙️ Citizen's Playbook is produced by Henry Chamber Media, bringing you conversations that connect business, community, and leadership throughout Henry County.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:10

In a world filled with constant headlines and complex debates, it is easy to feel as though government is something that happens to us rather than with us or even for us. For many people, civics remains a distant memory from a high school classroom, a passive collection of dates and names with little connection to the realities of modern life. The Citizens Playbook is designed to change that narrative. This 18-part audio journey serves as an active practical user manual for democracy, specifically tailored for the citizens of Georgia. Hosted by Joseph Henning, president and CEO of the Henry County Chamber of Commerce, and State Judge Stephen Knights Jr., the series guides listeners through architectural blueprint of government. By understanding the rules of the game, citizens can transform from frustrated spectators into empowered community participants, because democracy is not a spectator sport. It requires active, informed participation. Welcome to the debut episode of the Citizens Playbook. Today we establish civics not as a dusty historical subject, but as an essential, empowering user manual for modern life. We break down the three practical pillars of society: civic knowledge, civic skills, and civic dispositions. Why should a busy parent or a small business owner in Georgia invest their time in this? Can't be abstract, or they're not going to follow along. So what what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Well, it absolutely is. And from a legal perspective, knowing your rights protects you from any interactions that you may have with the state. For example, the Bill of Rights, which we'll cover in a later episode, isn't just a historical document. It can be a shield. But just as important is the other side of that coin that is knowing the responsibilities of elected officials, how you may be able to hold them accountable. You can't know if your representative is doing a good job if you don't fundamentally know what their job is supposed to be.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Great point. Absolutely. So so I guess it's it's a great introduction to this series that we have here. When they don't know a specific role, especially when you're looking at county commissioners, I think I get it a lot too, the difference between state representatives and state senators in Atlanta versus federal congressmen and senators in DC and the misunderstanding of their roles. And so when you don't know who's responsible for what, you don't know where to go for certain problems that you might face.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

And that's exactly right. Right. Civic knowledge levels of the playing field, so to speak, right? The founders, such as Thomas Jefferson, believed that the new republics are very survival depending on the citizens being informed. And what we have is that they knew that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people is an active process, but it can be self-sustaining or a guarantee. A strong foundation in civics is generally the best tool to distinguish fact from fiction and keeping everyone informed.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

So we do have a purpose. All right. Well, let's uh let's bring in our guest. And for the first episode, I am thrilled that we're joined today by Michelle Neesmith from ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation, an organization dedicated to fostering civic engagement right here in Georgia. Michelle, welcome. Welcome.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Thank you. And I'd really like to thank y'all for having this series. I think that it's desperately needed. And any way that we can help the public better understand how their government operates and who the point of contact is, is a great uh is great in my opinion. So thank y'all for doing this.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Absolutely. And and I so appreciate you joining us. You know, let's let's look at, you know, where the rubber meets the roll road, Michelle. And and it's one thing that we can talk about these ideas, but I know your role works with others to put them into action. And I wanted to have you on to discuss a great example you have. And I believe you work with Georgia youth. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah, it's my role of the foundation. We have the uh Georgia County internship program. So we work with lots of college students as well as some high school students and getting them interested in learning more about county government.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Okay. And then so that's that's kind of along the lines I know, and it's interesting because Judge Knights serves as our MC for our National Civics B here in Henry County and Trinity, who's behind the scenes with us today, is our team liaison for that. And so I think it's great that we have these number of programs for middle school students and high school students just to make them aware. I think in some cases, maybe even more so than their parents are aware of what civics is.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Right, and definitely getting them involved in the civic process at a young age.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Yeah. Michelle, what does that internship look like for these students and and who is it open to?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Sure. Well, this um particular program, the Jordan County Internship Program, which we refer to as GSEP, is it's modeled for um college students and uh graduate students and high school students at least, 16 years of age or older that's in high school, um, that they can go into a county and just learn more about their operations. And the way that it works is we provide grant funding through our foundation to county governments so that they can um recruit interns to come in and complete certain projects. It's a competitive grant. And for 2026, we have awarded 41 grants in over 30 counties across the state. And so there's lots of different opportunities for students to learn about town and gablement and um they are given specific projects so they can really get into a weeds of what town is they that's great.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

I think that's great, just especially, you know, knowing what's local. And I think a lot of times people don't think of it as as Judge Knight said, you know, for the people, by the people, that that it happens to them, not for them. The the, you know, a lot of the the people that we talk to, they're complaining about things, but they're not paying attention to how they can affect that. What do you think from the foundation standpoint, uh, Michelle, what's the biggest barrier preventing people from engaging? Apathy or something else?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

That's a great question. And I think it's actually a combination of factors. I think some people are just not interested in government. They hear the rhetoric on TV and they're like, I don't want to deal with that. Or they, or quite frankly, they can be somewhat intimidated. Um, I've worked for the Association of County Communistries of Georgia for almost 20 years. And before that, I worked for the um House of Representatives for the state. And I can tell you, we always received calls from the constituents that were very confused. And by the time they got to us, they were usually very angry, primarily because they couldn't figure out the process. And we had people calling us at the state looking for a federal problem, and then we get lots of um inquiries on the county that it might be state or city, or they just don't really know who to reach out to. So by the time they get to us, they're very frustrated. And you can tell that, you know, they're they've getting passed around a lot, and that I think really hampers their ability to want to really fully engage.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah. And that's that's definitely understandable because when when folks don't know who to turn to, that can can be frustrating. But uh just to add to what you said, the playbook concept breaks down civics into knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Can you explain the difference between knowing what to call about a pothole, for example, on your local road or highway, and knowing how to effectively communicate with that person once you do get a hold of them? Why is the disposition or mindset so critical, do you think, in today's society?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Well, I I think in today's society, we have kind of a trigger warning to to get really angry. When you have a problem to the point that it rises to the point that you're going to contact the government, you're already angry. So maybe you have a pothole that's been there for a really long time and you're you're curious as to why it's not being fixed, um, and don't realize as a citizen that, you know, there's a schedule for how they go about fixing various things. And so I can get the frustration, but in terms of like how to reach out, generally, just use the pothole analogy, counties in general uh handle about 80% or so of the road maintenance in the state. So chances are if you have a road problem, it's probably a county road. And so uh I definitely encourage people, you know, to take a look at the website for their local government. There's a really great function for lots of county and city websites where it's like, how do I? So they can like plug it in and figure out. And sometimes it's very obvious, like you may say pothole that's roads and there's a road department that matches. Or otherwise it might be confusing because a lot of counties and cities have what's called the public works department. So in this situation, I would just encourage people just to call the local government and say, This is my problem, who can help me? And they'll get you to the right place. And when you're interacting with county, state or city staff, really and truly they're there for you. They're there to help you. So they want to help you with your problem. And so um I would treat it just like any other problem and you know, say what's going on and move forward. Now, granted, there are always issues where maybe you need to elevate it. And I think it's important that way for you to know who your county and city officials are. And they have usually there's a particular district that a county commissioner or a city council person may represent. And again, you can find this on the city or county's website. So if you feel like you're not getting heard, you can definitely reach out to those elected members because again, they're there for you and they they're especially larger counties, they have constituent services. Yeah. And so you can reach out for their constituent services because they want to make sure that people that live in their districts are are happy with where they're living and that they get their needs met.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Absolutely. And I think a lot of times these individuals, whether it's the county or the city, I mean, even our state elected officials are in and around the community and they have office hours, they have town halls. They're doing that because they want to talk to the constituents and want to know what the issues are. And sometimes it's easier to get the solution that way and then call it around to seven different people before you find it out. But that's as Judge Geiss said, this is one of our this is one of the goals of this Citizens Playbook is that each episode, we're gonna challenge the listeners to one homework assignment so that at the end of the entire episode series, they will know who to call for what and what the what the numbers are and how to go about it and who's responsible. So so I appreciate you kicking off this first episode with us, Michelle. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Absolutely, definitely appreciate you. And who knew? Homework is coming up.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

That's right. Well, we didn't tell them that yet. I I kind of slipped that in. You know, I think if we could quickly, Michelle, let's talk a little bit about county budget process. And I know, you know, I I know we're not the only one of the 159 counties in Georgia that people look at something and say, well, you know, this is this is not what we want. We want something else and that and that whole budgeting process. And so how can individuals, how can residents get involved in that process? And when is the right time? You know, not when they're going for approval. So, what would that look like? What would your recommendation be for those citizens?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

First and foremost, I definitely would recommend getting a little bit more information about your uh county's budget year cycle. There's actually more than one. Um, many counties have a fiscal year cycle that starts July 1 and runs through June 30th. Others have a calendar year, January three, December. And then the third most popular is the federal year, which starts October 1st and runs through September 30th. So, first of all, you would need to know what kind of fiscal cycle your county has because that's going to impact when they pass their budget. But the good thing is the law requires counties and cities to advertise when they have budget hearings. And so there's a legal notice for that boss of us. And so you should be able to see that through um your local um newspaper. Um, a lot of times counties have this information posted on their website as well. Um, but to the earlier point, what we're talking about, and I I really wish we could kind of go back to the days, is local officials are the officials that are closest to the people. These are people you go to church with and you see at the grocery store, and maybe you're in a rotary together. So reach out early. Don't necessarily wait until there's an issue. So you can kind of get that reper with that actual um elected official. But for the budgeting process specifically, like I said, you should be getting notifications on that. Counties are supposed to be posting information, cities as well. And then like the federal government, we have to have a budget every year. So there's no continuing resolution cycles. This is an annual process for counties and cities. And so there's a lot more time for you to have input and review this. And also, because they're having public hearings about this process, you can participate in that. Um, you can go to these public hearings or advertise cities and counties are subject to what's called the Open Meetings Act. And so their meetings have to be public. Additionally, they have what's called work sessions. And in many work sessions, this is where they really get into the nitty-gritty of what they're doing.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

That's that's pretty uh great information. I I like the part when you said the law requires it.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

I appreciate that. I think to your point, we can all name, you know, our president, we can probably most of us name our U.S. senators. I think once you get down to congressional districts and then to the really local, a lot of people struggle to figure out who's where and what. And I think you're not going to get anywhere by calling the White House for a pothole. You got to know who the different representatives are at each of those levels. So I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you very much. And so I think it's a perfect spot to end today. And and I think the lesson here is that civic knowledge isn't just about being being an effective citizen, difference between complaining about a problem and having the tools to solve it.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

That's exactly right. And um definitely want to thank you again. Of citizen who's informed is definitely one of the keys to the improvement of society, and that's one of the tenets of the founding fathers.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Absolutely. It's it's interesting you you said that because each of these episodes, as we said earlier, there's going to be homework with specific calls to action. And so first assignment for our listeners, should they choose to accept it, sometime this week, we want to encourage you to visit the state website at georgia.gov. On that site, you'll find a tool to look up your elected officials. We want you to find just two right now. Find your state representative and your county commissioner. You don't have to call them or write them, but jot them down on the back of your notebook. This will be the start, the citizens playbook.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

That's right. Civic's homework. Here it is. As you find their names, go ahead and also look and see what committees they may serve on. Knowing who represents you is the first entry into your citizens playbook.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Next week, we'll go back to the very beginning, to the philosophical blueprint of America. We're talking about the nation's original breakup letter, the Declaration of Independence. Thank you to our guest, Michelle Niesmith, and thank you for listening to the Citizens Playbook. Thank you for listening to the Citizens Playbook. We want to take a quick moment to extend a special thank you to Georgia Power for their generous support of this entire series. Georgia Power's commitment to our communities goes far beyond delivering reliable energy. They are actively investing in an informed, engaged, and empowered Georgia. Their partnership is what helps us bring these critical civic conversations right to your headphones. We are incredibly grateful for their support. Well, that wraps up our premier episode. A huge thank you to our guest, Michelle Nesmith, for helping us kick off the series and for her incredible work with the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation. If today's conversation reframed how you look at civics, please share this episode with a friend, a neighbor, or a colleague. Let's get everyone in the game and tune in next week as we tackle the breakup letter. The Citizens Playbook is hosted by Joseph Henning and State Judge Stephen Knights Jr., produced by Trinity Archer. This has been a Henry Chamber Media Production, Copyright 2026.