This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Commitment to community

Mark Linde describes the start of his interest in community service and what motivated him to become involved. He lives on the Brockton/Easton line with his wife Teri.

I first thought about public service as a student at West Junior High School back in 1974. It was the era of Watergate and the President of the United States had just resigned after a scandal that scarred the country and started people's distrust of the government and elected officials. I thought at a young age that we must be able to do better and have people that are not out for their own interests or special interests that serve the people. I was getting ready to enter Brockton High School where I concentrated on my Social Studies and History courses along with participating in the student television and radio station. More about that in a later blog posting.

My parents Anne & David who now reside in Easton taught me to be involved and help people. My mom was a teacher and my dad was Director of Parole Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I am a part-time professor at Massasoit Community College and am the General Manager for Brockton Community Access, the local cable channels for Brockton.

One of the best ways to get involved in the community was to volunteer on campaigns and help elect people that were honest and could make a difference. I got involved in the late David Crosby's campaign for Mayor of Brockton. I helped out George Papas the Ward 1 City Councilor from the neighborhood I lived in on Ash Street in Ward 1. Both of these men were regular folks who worked hard every day to serve the people they represented. Sometimes they disagreed and were on different sides of the issues but they were committed to our community and I trusted them to make the right choice.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I even wrote a letter to the late City Clerk JJ Lyons who recently passed away about how I could get involved. We had visits to Brockton from many of the Democratic Presidential candidates running in 1976. They came to Brockton live and in person. They thought Brockton was important enough to visit. I met Fred Harris, Henry "Scoop" Jackson and Jimmy Carter.

I soon got involved in the 1976 campaign because I took a class called "Action Politics" at Brockton High School taught by the former President of the Brockton Education Association (BEA). I took this class along with Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti who I graduated with in 1979. We had to work on the campaigns in order to do well in the class. This was a banner year for Democrats and most won. I worked for the late Frank Powers (Plymouth County Clerk of Courts), the late Congressman James Burke and many others. This showed me that good people indeed run for office to serve the people. It is my hope that I can follow in their footsteps. I have always cared about my hometown and have tried to make it a better place. I currently serve as a School Committee member to the Southeastern Regional School Committee which represents 9 communities including Brockton and Easton. I serve as a Library Trustee in Brockton. I have been involved in many charitable organizations that help people and help our community. I hope to help you to access State Government and address your concerns.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?