Your civics project
How to actually change something in Easthampton
Massachusetts law says you have to do a civics project. It does not say it has to be pretend. Every lever on this page is real, it is written into state law, and it works in Easthampton specifically.
The law is Chapter 71, Section 2 of the General Laws: every public school serving eighth graders, and every public high school, must provide “not less than 1 student-led, non-partisan civics project for each student.” That is the assignment. What follows is how to make it land somewhere real.
Step one
Find the body that actually decides your issue.
This is the step that makes a project work. A real problem moves when it reaches the people who have the power to say yes, so start by finding them.
In Easthampton, roughly:
- Your school building, your classes, your school’s rules and budget: the School Committee. They hire the superintendent and adopt the school budget. They do not run the police or the roads.
- Streets, sidewalks, parks, local police and fire, the town budget: the City Council, working with the Mayor.
- State law, and anything about the age you can do something at: your State Representative and State Senator, not anyone in town.
Match the issue to the body first. The rest of the project gets three times easier.
The lever
Your council has to hear it in public.
Easthampton’s legislative body is its City Council, so instead of putting an article on a town meeting warrant, you bring your issue to the councilors who represent you, and to the committee that handles it.
Councils in Massachusetts do their real work in committee, in public, and they take public comment. A councilor who hears the same specific, well researched ask from a real constituent three times will usually ask staff about it, and that is how most things actually start.
Call City Clerk Mary Ann Giza’s office at 413-529-1400 Ext. 460 and ask two questions: which committee handles this issue, and how a resident signs up to speak at its next meeting. The Clerk’s office answers this question all the time. Asking it is itself the civic skill.
What to bring
Ask for one specific thing.
“Do something about the buses” is not an ask. “Move the 7:10 stop on Washington Street two hundred feet north so it is not on a blind curve” is an ask. A specific request can be said yes to. A general complaint can only be agreed with, which is not the same thing and does not change anything.
Bring three things: the specific ask, who it affects and how many of them, and what it would take to do it. If you do not know what it would take, say so and ask. Officials are far more willing to help someone who has clearly done the reading.
Every ask lands somewhere specific, and there is a template for each one: a board, a records request, your legislator, your local paper.
Who to ask
The most useful phone call in local government.
City Clerk: 413-529-1400 Ext. 460. This is the single most useful phone number in local government. The Clerk’s office knows when every body meets, what the deadlines are, and how a resident gets on an agenda. They will tell you. It is literally their job.
Meeting times and agendas change, so this page sends you to the people who keep them. Call and ask, and the answer you get on the phone will be the current one.
MassCivics last checked this page on October 20, 2026.
Sources
- City Clerk records: City of Easthampton, City Clerk, as of October 2026.