Do you know who your elected officials are? Many people do not, and that’s unfortunate. As voters, we walk into a voting booth, pull the lever, and select the people that will represent us on both a state and a city level. Then, after the election is over and we have a problem that requires help from those that we put into office, we suddenly have no idea who they are.

An elected official’s job description consists of helping the communities that they represent. Whether it be a problem involving a bill that you have, a traffic light in your neighborhood, or helping the community organization that you belong to, that’s what an elected official does. In addition, they take our problems, ideas, concerns, demands and gripes to their fellow colleagues in either City Hall, Borough Hall, or Washington and return with some sort of a solution.

I recommend that you get to know who your elected officials are. They can help you in so many ways, ways that you would not even think of. If you know who your elected officials are, I suggest that you contact them. Tell them that you live in their district and that you would like some information from them. Every elected official can provide you with a list of important emergency phone numbers, how to tips when it comes to problems with taxes and bills, and much more. If you do not know who your elected officials are, grab your voter’s card. On the top, it will tell you what Assembly, Senatorial, Councilmanic, and Congressional districts you belong to. After all, each of us have an Assemblyman, Senator, Councilman, and Congressman, respectively. Once you see what district numbers they are, call the Board of Elections and they will tell you who your elected officials are.

Elected officials are a very important link between you and city government. Don’t you think its time that link was put to use?