In the best of all possible democracies, citizens would attend every local-government meeting or watch every meeting on cable TV or an Internet stream. Of course, it’s rare that people have the time, energy or commitment to get involved or pay much attention to the goings-on, no matter how relevant or impactful the decisions made at those meeting might be.

That said, if you did want to kindle or rekindle your interest in the local government, next week’s Kane County Board meetings might be a good place to start.

There is a lot of interesting stuff coming up in the week ahead, and you can get a sneak peek in the agendas and agenda packets provided in Kane County’s new meeting portal. (You can always find a list of upcoming meetings on the Kane County homepage, and of course we do our best to reproduce that service on the right rail of our daily Kane County Connects e-newsletter … CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP! :)

Among the meetings set for the coming week is a 10:30 a.m. Monday Jobs Committee meeting, when we’ll see a report on “Growing Our Regional Economy.” That will include updates on the seven-county Chicago Metro Exports, Chicago Metro Metal Consortium and the Streamlined Truck Permitting Initiative.

On Tuesday, there’s a 9 a.m. Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting, where Sheriff Don Kramer has been invited to provide a monthly report on the status of the U.S. Marshal’s inmates at the jail, as well as the revenue from that program.

Also on Tuesday, former Batavia Chamber of Commerce director and present-day “invitational speaker and provocateur” Roger Breisch is scheduled to facilitate a Committee of the Whole discussion titled “How We Each See the World.” How our County Board members see the world will be of more than passing interest to all of us, and the presentation promises to be thought-provoking.

On Wednesday, the Finance and Budget Committee is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. The agenda for that one hasn’t been set as of Friday, but it has the potential to be lively, in the wake of previous discussions on the Sheriff’s Office revenue shortfall as well as the potential loss of $2.8 million in state income tax revenue as proposed in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget.

All of the above meetings are held at the County Board Room of the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A, Geneva, IL 60134.

Rounding out the week, the Kane County Forest Preserve District has an 8:30 a.m. Thursday Land Acquisition/Enterprise Committee meeting, followed by a 9 a.m. Planning and Utilization Committee meeting. Both of those meetings are held at the Forest Preserve’s 3rd Floor Board Room at the Fox Valley Ice Arena, Suite 320, Geneva, IL 60134.