Sharing some previously published comments as municipal elections take place across many states on November 4, 2025, in the United States.

In New Jersey and Virginia, voters will elect new governors due to term limits. New Jersey allows two consecutive terms, while Virginia permits only a single term.  Several states are also holding special legislative elections. Looking ahead, the U.S. is moving toward the 2026 midterm elections, when voters will choose new members of Congress and the Senate. For details about your local elections, please view this link <https://www.usa.gov/state-election-office>.

This post originally appeared in the YourTown online edition of The Boston Globe on November 6, 2012. Here are some suggestions:

• More attention, employment, and services to communities of color, new residents in exurb, sub/urban and Gateway cities and towns;
   
• Economic Development – access to small business loans and grants to entrepreneurs of color;
   
• Youth Empowerment – More civic participation activities, good internships and trainings for youth/young adults in high-risk communities;
   
• Close the digital divide – More efforts and outreach for Black and Latino families to have access to the Internet and computers in their homes;
   
• Hire, retain, and promote more teachers, psychologists, parent/family/outreach liaisons, school social workers, and other professionals of color in school districts with large linguistic and other ethnic groups. Increase adult role models for at-risk youth in municipalities with changing demographics;
   
• Improvement of the quality of K-12 public education and access to enriched out of school programs in disadvantaged communities;
   
• Local government could provide more sports and culturally relevant recreational activities for boys and girls of color in exurb, sub/urban and Gateway cities and towns. In addition to basketball or football, disadvantaged youth of color can be exposed to tennis, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, ping pong, street hockey, pickleball and other sports that they don’t usually play.
   
• Encourage, equip, and support outreach and involvement of diverse community, professionals, stakeholders, and faith leaders to help families in school engagement activities 

While I appreciate calls to civic participations that are happening around election seasons, I believe long-term relationship and outreach has an important role to play in the outcomes of healthy communities. Groups that are affected by the above concerns need to have a stronger relationship among themselves.
  
As the late Speaker of the House once said, “All politics is local.” Local governments must strengthen their relationships with changing demographics. If schools fail to build culturally relevant connections with parents and families, and if new communities do not create bridges among themselves, regardless of who is elected to office, the rapport and trust among communities, and even among individuals will remain essential. Such relationships are critical to implement legislative policies and ensure equitable access to resources that can shape the future of communities as a whole. 

Personally, I believe it's a two-way issue. Government needs to put more effort to do outreach in diverse communities. Groups with limited internal leadership need to be more proactive.

Nekita Lamour, an educator based in the North of Boston area, has been in the field of (English Language Learners  (ELL) for over 40 years. The highlights are the author’s.