In the midst of election season, the League of Women Voters (LWV) recently kicked off its Local Government Initiative, which will encourage residents to get involved with their government.

The league aims to give residents an active role in their government, according to LWV President Carol Reimers. The LWV East Shore branch is active in Guilford and neighboring towns.

The initiative will run for two years and was inspired by Massachusetts congressman Tip O’Neil’s famous comment, “All politics are local.” The start of the initiative intentionally correlates with the upcoming local elections.

“We have a history of offering election related events,” Reimers said. “We have also sponsored educational forums on a variety of topics of interest to the members and residents of the shoreline region. Some of our previous forums have been on energy, Connecticut taxation policy, and voting in an age of complexity.”

This month in Guilford the LWV is offering a series of election related events. The first will be the Guilford Board of Finance Candidate debate on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. in the Guilford Community Center.

“We also plan to reach out to area high school students by offering opportunities to share their thoughts and questions,” she said. “We will reach out to Guilford students for their questions state legislators for this year’s Legislative Breakfast. We hope to sponsor a video essay contest in the spring open to area high school students.

For more information, visit eastshore.lwvconnecticut.org.