As one whose job it is to follow and sometimes comment on what goes on in the world, I hear, watch and read a lot of news reports. For headlines, I listen to the radio and watch local news on television; for in-depth coverage of a few subjects that interest me, I check out news magazines and specialty publications. But in the interest of full disclosure, I get most of my news from The Gazette.
It was from The Gazette earlier this year that I discovered that the city of Colorado Springs was taking applications for the 2005 Citizens' Academy. Figuring that such a peek inside the operations of city government would benefit me and our readers, I fired off my application. That same day I received an e-mail from Monique Caterina with the city Planning Department confirming my application and telling me about selection deadlines. A few weeks later, Monique let me know I had been selected.
The Citizens' Academy is sponsored by the Council of Neighborhood Organizations and coordinated by the city Planning Department. The cost is picked up by commercial sponsors and city funds aren't involved. The course consisted of eight classes on Wednesday evenings at different locations around the city. Over the eight weeks, about 35 of us visited City Council chambers, the Traffic Operations Center, the Police Training Academy, the Hillside Community Center, the Fire Operations Complex, the City Administration building, the Leon Young Service Center and the Colorado Springs Senior Center. We had a chance to talk with and question various city officials and employees, from Vice Mayor Larry Small to frontline workers at the Traffic Operations Center to city firefighters and police officers.
There was a ton of information to absorb in a short time and I still keep the threeinch loose-leaf binder full of class materials on my desk. It's loaded with reference information I might need someday. It's likely many of my classmates also keep their binders handy.
As one might imagine, attendees represented a broad spectrum of city residents. Some were recent retirees who were looking for ways to contribute some of their time in ways that can help others. Others were folks who haven't lived in our area very long and wanted to know what makes local government work. Several were seeking background about city government because they're contemplating volunteering for one Tag heuer replica or more of the many citizens committees that advise officials. And at least one is planning a run for a City Council seat some time in the future. We came from a variety of backgrounds and had various goals, but the one underlying goal I could discern was a desire to make Replica Longines Watch our city a better place for all who live here.
Of course, what will make Colorado Springs a better place is a battle that is fought every day, because we all have different specific ideas about what is "better." As a believer in the Freedom philosophy that guides our editorial position, I had to bite my tongue to avoid a debate the night we visited the Planning Department. I had decided before the first session that I should use these classes to gather information rather than as a platform to push The Gazette's philosophy.
They're not bad people at the Planning Department. Like most of us, they want life in our city to be good for residents, but their ideas of land use regulations and private property rights don't sit well with people like me. When their plans are at odds with The Gazette's view of property rights, we can hash out our differences here on these pages for all to see. Others can participate as well, through op-eds and letters to the editor. That's what representative government is all about -- public discussions to address as many points of view as possible.
But I digress.
As a learning experience, the Citizens' Academy got into the nuts and bolts of city government. Students became informed about parts of the city we didn't even know were there. We saw how different departments within the city work together and how from time to time they pursue opposite courses of action. In those rare cases, however, city employees work together to hammer out compromises.
Over the eight weeks of the course, questions from my classmates revealed various levels of previous knowledge of how government works and, specifically, how our city government operates. These days we know more than we did before. I want to again thank everyone involved with the Citizens' Academy and urge others to explore this program. Who knows? A future mayor might be sitting out there wondering how to get involved. He or she could do worse than spending a few evenings to learn a lot.
Lewis is a copy editor and writer for The Gazette opinion pages. Readers can contact him at 636-0370 or by e-mail at .