By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

They ask tough questions; they know the issues; they vote. Those who live at Brooksby have gone out of their way to learn the ins and outs of their government.

Each month, excluding July and August, the Know Your Government group selects a speaker or two to get down to the facts on particular local, state,  federal, and international government policies.

No policy is too far or too near to land under the group’s microscope. Members have discussed everything from the governance of Brooksby to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) efforts to ensure the safety of food that increasingly comes from China.

Effective governance
“I was always concerned with government and how the government treats people,” says Julius Schiller, chair of Know Your Government. Though he worked as a naturals engineer and chemist, he says he has always been interested in politics.

 Fortunately, Schiller sayshe is content with Brooksby’s government, or rather, governance.

“We are very well managed,” he says. “Erickson has put in place an organization that functions well.”

Schiller started the group at Brooksby almost two years ago after having introduced a similar program more than a decade earlier in the Florida  community where he was living. The group’s first event at Brooksby featured Peabody Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti and others in the city’s most influential roles.

Keeping politics in its place
It’s not easy to stay away from politics in a community with multiple current events and political groups, but Schiller says Brooksby’s Know Your  government group adheres to its mission to “advance civic awareness in the community” while remaining strictly nonpolitical.

And while the group steers clear of politics—sticking instead to policies—Schiller acknowledges that its lectures may be a jumping-off point for activism. He says: “It’s up to you to go to your politician and say, ‘Why aren’t you doing that?’”