Carrollton City Council Case Study Paper

On Monday, April 13th, 2009, I visited the Culver City city council meeting, and found that they operate using a council-manager form of government. For a city with a population of about 38,000, this type of governmental structure is fairly common, and I was not surprised to see it in action in a community where the median household income is around $56,000 a year. Culver City is also a culturally rich community with a 60 percent Caucasian population, and a quarter of the residents are either of African American or Asian decent. The mayor, D. Scott Malsin, is one of five members on the council, and his term as mayor is on a rotating basis. Having been to a Hermosa Beach city council meeting with a similar council-manager structure, I knew

The City of Bend, Oregon Government consists of approximately 500 employees across thirteen different divisions. These divisions are Police, Fire, Community Development, Public Works, etc and are all coordinated under the City Manager’s office. Bend’s government style is called a “weak mayor” form of city government, in that the citizens elect a city council, which then elects a mayor from among the council members. The city council and mayor, then hire a City Manager to run the day to day operations of the city. In doing this form of government, the City Manager is not directly accountable to the citizens and can focus on the needs of the city and its employees. At the same time, the City Council can only provide direction to the city manager and is accountable to the citizens. The city employees in this case are led by the city manager as directed by city council. The community leadership environment in this case is established by council to provide direction to the city manager.

One thing of significance that I learned about at the city council meeting was meeting procedure. When I first arrived a pre-meeting workshop about annexation was occurring. After the regular meeting began we started with the Pledge of Allegiance. Next roll call of the council members was taken. Dallas Center has five council members: Mike Kidd, David Bagby, Kurt Pion,. Following roll call was an action to approve the agenda, which was approved. Next up was public communications and concerns. I was surprised that each person only has two minutes to talk about all the issues they

A reoccurring conflict throughout this case assessment is the mayor’s ignorance to the policies that he is

Of course, during meetings, many questions are sure to arise about the same factors. Most people want know what will be done on roadway conditions, what will be done about the cleaning of the parks, etc. One of the biggest, and very surprising, issues brought up recently by the Common Council is a chicken ordinance for Warsaw. In a unanimous vote, the Warsaw Planning Commission has given their approval to allow chickens within the city limits. However, the Council voted “no” on the ordinance that, if passed, would have allowed a select number of residents to raise and maintain chickens on their property inside the city

As the daughter of the Mayor of Buffalo, I was born into a family with strong political identities. My mother’s name is Teri Lachermeier. Buffalo has been her home for most of her life. My father's name is David Grage and they raised me and my two other siblings in the town of Buffalo.

The council then reviewed past topics, such as the billing process for water and sewer services, improvement projects at Memorial Park, and more streetlight installations throughout Raymore. As for the process of passing a bill, the bill was first thoroughly explained by the council, then the mayor asked who supported the passing of this bill. Once the votes, for and against, the bill had been counted and announced by the mayor, the bill was then announced as a new policy. All four bills went through this process and were approved. Then there were four new bills introduced that discussed topics like the unofficial election results, a contract provided to Dayco Painting Inc to work on interior painting of administrative areas, a contract given to Holiday FX to put up Christmas lights on City hall, and an amendment to the city manager’s employment contract. The voting process was the same as before, and all bills ended up being approved, but the Holiday lights bill had a little bit of opposition to it because of the cost it takes to put up the lights. The council then opened the floor for public comments, in which those who decided to speak had to first state their full name and address for the record, like the personal appearance in the beginning of the meeting. I went up and made a public comment about the Holiday lights bill. I stated that is was a good idea because it showcases our city and would be a great gathering place for our city. The council communications

We all have a busy life where unfortunately we all don’t get to focus our entire dedication to one thing. We are forced to focus on everything that is going on in our lives all at the same time. Focusing our effort and energy on different things at the same time involves us not putting our full dedication to each and every subject. When we go to work, work out, and spend some time with our families can we truly give our entire focus to each and everything thing of these? I believe it is impossible because while doing one thing our mind gets interrupted by the other things we have to put our focus in. Therefore, we do not all get to truly put our entire focus on each thing we have to take care of in our lives. I feel this is a great example

The members on the board of supervisors and planning commission, all seemed to be in agreement with each other on most matters. On the other hand, I noticed great deal of discord amongst the Gulfport City Council members, particularly between Councilwoman Ella Holmes-Hines and Councilman F.B. ‘Rusty’ Walker, IV. They both voiced disparities regarding the pay rate amongst police officers and firefighters. Although they did disagree, at the end of the meeting, Councilman F.B. ‘Rusty’ Walker, IV, did clarify that even though they disagree, they collectively think of themselves as a team; this showed great strength and maturity to

The city council of Atlanta, Georgia servers as a local legislative government branch. The council is made of the president, Ceasar Mitchell and fifteen members elected from district within the city. The city of Atlanta is broken up into twelve different districts and three post, each councilmen is responsible for representing the needs and wants for their district. The members of the council are elected by the citizens, and they work together to pass laws, make general policies, supervise city government, and appropriate funds for various needs. Usually, council meetings are open to the public, and public input is welcomed. The majority the councils work is done in committees. In the committees proposed legislation is debated and the members of other government branches and the public are given a chance to comment. Each council member serves on at least three of the council's standing committees, and select committees and panels. This week the author had the chance to attend a City of Atlanta council committee meeting and view how the meeting was conducted and went.

This is the first city council meeting that I have actually attended. The meeting lasted about 1.5 hours. The meeting began with 2 citizen comments. The first speaker was Dr. Archer from Stone Crest Hospital, who discussed heart health. The Mayor Mary Esther Reed proclaimed that the month of February will be considered as American Heart Month. The second speaker was Elizabeth White from Read to Succeed. Read to Succeed is an initiative for literacy in Rutherford County. Ms. White presented the chosen book for the one community book program to the council members.

The Dahlonega City Hall was crowded on the evening of March 1st 2010. The seats were full, except for at the very front, and the standing room was filled almost out the door. The crowd, mostly made up of students, leaned in to hear as the voices of the City Council members faded in and out of the faltering sound system. The six City Council members and the mayor sat along a bench as if they were the judges at a hearing. Because of the ongoing discussions and the crowd, I thought I had arrived a few minutes late; but I was able to find a seat in the front two rows. Despite how packed the small room was there were plenty of empty seats in the front. I had thought the meeting was well on its way by the way conversation was going and

County governments are so often overlooked. The people spend the majority of their governmental association time with the federal government, only paying attention to what it is the president is up to lately or which laws the legislative branch is trying to push out now. County officials are very much deserving of attention as well. After all, these people are the ones that are dealing with the problems that are so close to home.

County governments are considered local governments within the state. The board of commissioners is the head of a county. Each commissioner is elected by the town and is permitted for four years of service. So, why are county governments so important to me? County governments do so much for us every day; For example, they provide jobs, oversee health care services, and maintain roads.

I chose to attend a city council meeting for this assignment and was very surprised at what I witnessed. The city council served an important purpose and the meeting actually accomplished many important goals. Among the interesting things that I saw at the council meeting were the people who attended, the people who presented, the people who sat on the council, and the subjects that were being voted upon in the meeting.