A few weeks ago, a local candidate announced on social media that they were running for office.

As I scrolled through the comments on the post, I was surprised to see people from my neighborhood commenting that the candidate “had their vote.”

I know where they live, and it’s not in the area covered by that office. I reached out to a few of them privately and was surprised to find out that they genuinely didn’t realize that they couldn’t vote for that office.

I grew up in a household where participation in local affairs wasn’t just talk, it was something that was done almost every day. Over the course of my reporting career, I’ve covered most types of local governments, from borough councils to school boards to boards of supervisors. I’ve even had the opportunity, albeit unsuccessful, to run for office.

Local government is complicated and not well understood at times. But it’s also the level of government most likely to affect your daily lives.

From your garbage to your water to your sewage. From the roads you spend most of the time driving on to whether your neighbor can put that privacy fence up that blocks your view. From your kids having the option of a full day of kindergarten to how much you’re going to pay in property taxes. All of this and more is what your local governments handle and decide.

Can you name your local government offices and the people who fill the elected roles? Do you live in a township with a board of supervisors, or a borough with a council? What school district do you live in and who are your school directors? Who are your county commissioners? Who is your state representative and your state senator? What congressional district to you live in and who is your representative?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve taken the time to ask people these questions, and have been surprised at the lack of knowledge.

It seems that the higher the level of office, the more aware of it people are. Everyone knows who the president is, and most people seem to be able to name their U.S. senators and the governor, but recently I had a conversation with a person who didn’t realize that we had representatives and senators at both the state and federal level.

So, how do we fix this? How do we get people to learn and understand how government works at every level, but particularly the level that affects them most directly?

I had another conversation with an acquaintance about the disappearance of “civics” classes from school curriculums. From her recollections, some of this information was communicated there. As the kids have gone through school, I’ve followed their curriculums closely, and I have to say, they didn’t learn this stuff.

Both boys have taken AP level government and history classes. These classes have been superb at teaching the subject matter, and the boys have both done well on their exams. A came out of APGov being able to quote U.S. Supreme Court cases like nobody’s business. However, it didn’t get all the way down to the local levels. It would be hard to develop a national curriculum, when these various offices can vary even when they’re in a few miles of each other.

I do recall a few things from my own public education. I remember having a spelling test on local places. I also remember having an entire social studies unit on Pennsylvania. That unit covered everything from our state bird (ruffed grouse) and flower (mountain laurel) to the only town in Pennsylvania (Bloomsburg) and Mad Anthony Wayne’s ghost. But, I don’t remember every learning about what government looked like or acted like on a local level.

These days, it is easier than ever to share information. You used to have to rely solely on a news outlet to report on a meeting or go there in person. My local township and the borough I used to live in now have websites. There are frequently links to all the offices that make up local governments.

Local newspapers and television stations occasionally livestream entire meetings. Many municipalities also post their meeting minutes and agendas online.

Or, if all else fails, you can just wait until an issue becomes a hot enough topic to erupt on social media. Unfortunately, when that happens, you’re usually not getting the whole story.

There is still time before the May primaries to learn a lot about your local elected officials. Take a break from the national media firestorm and learn about who’s governing your own backyard.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears on Saturdays in the Times News