text: A New Year’s Suggestion
  
  Start off the new year at a reorganization meeting for your municipality or county. The experience won’t match Times Square for excitement, but if you’re cynical about government (and who isn’t these days), these sessions are feel-good events. Smiles, handshakes, hugs and promises of working cooperatively toward common goals are the order of the day. It’s a bit like the coin toss before the start of a football game – a few moments of courtesy and civility between opponents before they start trash talking and beating out each other’s brains.