Whittier City Council Meeting Report

At the Dallas Center city council meeting topics discussed were the TreesPlease fiscal year, the city library financial summary, equipment upgrades from Minburn Communications on the water tower, southwest stormwater drainage improvements,trailhead restrooms project, water plant update, wastewater treatment plant project, ordinance actions, DNR mandates, firework restrictions, city reports, and public forums. I felt that the most important issue discussed was the fireworks restriction. Most topics discussed were just a summary of what stage of a process a project was on, however; the fireworks discussion was debated for awhile. They debated about what terminology to use for supervision of fireworks, they

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

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

The meeting had an agenda that was published two days in advance per required by california state law. It was followed religiously by the council without deviation. They called the meeting to order and when everybody was quiet they started with the flag salute/presentation of the colors. They had the system of nominating ideas and seconding them to vote. They were speedy about it and there was no hesitation. However, out of the five city council members only three of the individuals so while the voted to vote they moved almost all of the votes to the next meeting when there would be more Council members.

On September 9, 2014 I attended the Glendale City Council meeting which was held at the Council Chamber which is located on the 2nd floor of the Glendale City Hall, Room 200, 613 East Broadway, Glendale, California. The meeting commenced at 6 p.m. and lasted for approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. Several policy proposals were made and discussed in this particular meeting. This paper is aimed at discussing the various policy proposals made and debated at this meeting with a view to establishing whether they are acceptable or unacceptable to the Glendale electorate. It is, however, essential to provide a brief background of the City of Glendale before embarking on a discussion of policy proposals.

It sounded like the board liked him. They went on to approve buying laptop carts for several of the schools in the district, putting wireless in the schools, and replacing outdated computers in the libraries. The district also approved a contract for the bus drivers, and a representative was there to celebrate and thank the board. Besides the concerned citizen he was the only person remotely close to a stakeholder who was at the meeting. For the rest of the meeting the board approved things that we had no access to. They only discussed the district’s policy for about three or four minutes, and it was only to approve a change in wording about discrimination in several

In the past decade Detroit municipal government has undergone rapid changes in its institutional functions. The city government once allowed for all nine members to be elected at-large but since a 2009 referendum was held with overwhelming approval that amended the city charter, Detroit now requires that just seven of its nine councilors be elected via wards or districts while two of the cities councilors are elected at large. The change that occurred in the city of Detroit was seen by many as being a way of cleaning the city up after decades of corruption crippling the cities political functions and economic growth, and after the forced removal and resignation of the corrupt mayor and council president, the citizens of Detroit sought to clean

Not having much of any political affiliations or even experience in any town meetings I was caught off guard that the audience did not just include democratic supporters but supporters of all parties, coming together for a town meeting to discuss the issues at hand to better the community. While I was shocked at how much older everyone was I was glad that they all cared so much about the community they lived in to set aside their differences and work together to make the town a better place for everyone. There were candidates for positions I was not aware existed. Michelle Jones running for State House, Jim Barksdale

What appeared most interesting was the lack of public peoples present, especially in an environment where they may have the greatest influence on public policy. In this present age, where political polarization is only growing, one would expect a greater public presence at the assembling of local governing bodies. Perhaps it is because people are too lazy, do not care, or think that their voice does not matter; at times a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever the case, if Americans wish for any type of favorable change to occur in their Governing bodies they must inform and involve themselves to champion said

The first draft, created by councilman Prejean, is unconstitutional as it prohibits “demonstrations or protests regarding political or controversial issues.” Not only is the wording vague enough to be abused, it specifically targets gatherings of a political nature. The implication is a complete ban on protests of any sort between the hours specified in the ordinance. Where is the line drawn on what constitutes political? Is a candlelight vigil controversial, or is a marathon raising awareness for Parkinson’s disease political? Does it apply to rallies by candidates running for office, or simply any gathering supporting a cause the town council dislikes? The chilling effect such an ordinance

One way to see public administration in action is by attending a city council meeting, whether it be in an urban or rural area, public administration still has a part in each event. As Kettl (2018; p. 244) referenced in his book, there is not a civil system that would be sustainable without strong leadership. This paper will discuss the author’s description, observation, and reflection during a city council meeting.

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

His willingness to listen and engage, coupled with action (doing what he said he would do) clearly set the stage for open dialog and support. He also realized that he needed to clearly communicate his goals and vision, which in-turn gained him buy-in from the department and external entities. He was also a student of “politics”, and demonstrated his prowess in the example given in the text when he was building a new precinct (Cordner, 2014). He realized there would be political and community pressure with this decision, so he made the argument by presenting facts as to why it needed to go where he wanted and left the decision in the hands of the community and city leaders. He did not “play politics”, but allowed the system work by following the principle of political

“It is a shift in the practice of democracy from hostility to civility, from advocacy to engagement, from confrontation to conversation, from debate to dialogue, and from separation to community.” (p. 4)

I was very surprised at how many people actually attended the city hall meeting. Normally when you think of government, you assume that the people are less interested in attending meetings. This was especially what I thought would happen given the average amount of people who vote for local laws and political offices. Instead, I was surprised to see many people attending. While most of those who attended were older, there were some younger people as well. In general, the attendees where men between the ages of 40 and 70. Some were dressed professionally for the meeting, while others were obviously arriving straight from work and were dressed in work clothes. There were even a few construction workers present who were still in their day clothes. Most of the women who were present were older. My best guess is that the younger women stay at home with their children while their husbands attend the meeting. There were no children present, which was expected given that city council meetings are meant for adults.