A good New Years resolution for anyone would be to become more knowledgeable and more involved in the operation of our city.

There will be an opportunity to fulfill such a resolution on Wednesday when the Suffolk City Council holds a public hearing to present citywide residential recycling options that are being considered.

These are big-ticket items, folks, and it behooves us all to be informed and attempt to influence the decision that council members face.

The city spends $161,734 on the twice-monthly blue bin pick-up program that serves 12,836 homes. The Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) intends to discontinue the service.

The options being looked at range from contracting with a private company with direct billing to participating households at no cost to the city, to converting all residents to the 95-gallon automated container program SPSA is switching to at a cost to the city of $749,306.

Having just paid your second-half taxes, one would think how our city spends that money would be a topic of interest. However, short of a boat pier being proposed near someone’s home, there’s little that seems to be of interest.

It’s time to change that attitude. Our country is involved in one war and on the brink of another in order to protect the freedoms we at least give lip-service to cherishing – perhaps chief among them the right to be heard and participate in the governing process.

Your elected representatives need your input and guidance. It’s good for them, good for the community and good for the cause of citizenship. And, as always, those who don’t speak up have no grounds to complain.