Citizen Involvement
Volunteer Opportunities
Boards & Commissions / Sports & Leisure / Stormwater Education / Water Conservation / Citizens Assisting Police / Community Emergency Response Team
Public Hearings and Meetings / School of Government / E-Government
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An involved citizenry is the hallmark of a strong community and an effective government. Indeed, it was a citizen’s movement that in 1871 resulted in the formation of the Town of Cary.
Today, opportunities abound for Cary citizens to continue taking part in shaping their government, their communities, and therefore, their own futures.
Boards and Commissions . Citizens may apply to serve on one of nine council-appointed boards and commissions, covering Town interests such as recreation, economic development, technology, cultural arts and land use practices. The Town Clerk’s Office recruits to fill vacancies each fall with appointments being made by Town Council in January. Most board seats are for three-year terms.
In addition to boards and commissions, the Town at times forms special committees and task forces to work for a finite time on specific, current issues. Appointments to these special groups are made as needed. Terms of service for these groups vary.
For more information about serving on Boards and Commissions or Special Committees, call the Town Clerk’s Office at (919) 319-4508.
Sports and Leisure . The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department recruits large numbers of volunteers to participate in many areas, including coaching athletic teams, trail workdays, park cleanup, maintenance or enhancement projects, docents at Page-Walker Arts and History Center, and helping out with Applause! Cary Youth Theater.
The Athletics Committee, Greenways Committee, Teen Advisory Committee and Cultural Arts Committee are Citizen Advisory Committees that serve as advisory bodies to the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board.
For more information about Parks and Recreation volunteer opportunities, call (919) 469-4061.
Stormwater Education . Groups of citizens may volunteer to stencil storm drains in the Town of Cary. Storm drain stenciling is part of an effort to increase public awareness that what goes into storm drains eventually ends up in our rivers, not in a wastewater treatment facility.
Cary has more than 13,000 storm drains which empty into either the Neuse or Cape Fear watersheds. Small groups of volunteers attend a brief training session and then, using stenciling kits provided by the Town, spray-paint drains with a “Flows to the Neuse River” or “Flows to the Cape Fear River” message.
For more information about Cary’s Storm Drain Stenciling Project, call (919) 469-4030.
Water Conservation. The Block Leader Program is a special grassroots communications effort to educate citizens about conservation and the environment. These volunteers are resources for their neighborhoods, providing information and materials to help residents become more conscientious about their water use, solid waste disposal, stormwater runoff, and recycling practices.
To become better informed, Block Leaders annually attend a one-hour orientation session and pick up their materials for distribution. Block Leaders do not have any enforcement responsibilities.
For more information about the Block Leader Program, call (919) 462-3872.
Citizens Assisting Police . Help Cary’s Police Department by becoming part of Cary’s CAP Team – Citizens Assisting Police. CAP Team members help provide security at public events and assist the Police Department with fingerprinting, child safety seat installation, clerical duties, service center staffing, Community Watch programs and other duties. They do not carry weapons and do not make arrests.
Before becoming CAP Team members, a volunteer must successfully complete Cary's Citizens Police Academy and receive training in such responsibilities as report writing.
For more information about joining the CAP Team, call (919) 469-4324.
Community Emergency Response Team . To help Cary citizens better prepare for weather emergencies, the Town of Cary Fire Department offers Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. CERT training is designed to enable citizens to care for themselves and then their neighbors during the first three days following a disaster event.
Participants are educated about disaster preparedness and trained in basic disaster response skills. CERT members are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
For more information about CERT, call (919) 469-4056.
Interactive Government
Attend Meetings . All meetings of the Town Council as well as those of its appointed boards and
commissions are open to the public. Regular Town Council meetings include “Public Speaks Out,” a period designated specifically for public comment. In addition, many council meetings include public hearings during which citizens may speak about the subject of that particular hearing.
Notices of meeting times and locations are posted days in advance at Town Hall, on the Town’s Web site, and on Cary TV 11. Meeting notices also appear each Wednesday in the local newspaper, The Cary News.
For more information about Council meetings, call (919) 469-4011.
School of Government . The Town of Cary School of Government is a “citizen’s college” that provides the community with a behind-the-scenes look at Town government structure, culture and decision-making. Citizens apply for the program and the Town chooses a small group that represents a cross-section of Cary by age, gender and area of town. Through discussion and hands-on activities, students obtain greater awareness of Town planning and operations.
For more information about the School of Government, call (919) 469-4006.
E-Participation : As citizens of North Carolina’s Technology Town, Cary citizens enjoy wide access to their government electronically. With more than 94 percent of citizens having access to the Internet at home or at work in 2006, the Town’s primary communication tool is our award-winning Web site - www.townofcary.org.
From Web polls to the latest news to a growing list of online governmental services including program registration and utility payments, www.townofcary.org is where to go to get and give ideas and information concerning the Cary community.
>Subscribe now to our electronic mailing list service and never miss an important
announcement from your Town government.
> Cary TV 11, the Town’s government access cable television channel, offers information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Programming includes wink - a live look at rush-hour traffic via more than 20 cameras throughout Cary, the monthly news magazine BUD-TV, as well as live meetings of the Cary Town Council, the Wake County Board of Commissioners, and the Wake County Board of Education.
>The Town of Cary’s 24-Hour Town Hall telephone message system offers information and allows you to participate in quick polls via your touch-tone telephone. More than 250 recorded messages answer the most frequently asked questions about government services and
operations. Just call (919) 319-4500.