To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Kristin Zagurski, Assistant Town Manager
Title
Presentation: Your Town Academy Graduating Class
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Executive Summary
The Your Town Academy program was offered to the community again this year. The eight-week class aims to “increase governmental transparency by increasing community awareness about Town operations.”
A class of 30 residents and business owners was recruited this summer. Classes kicked off Aug. 13, and since then, the class has learned about all aspects of how the Town operates.
Tonight, we ask Mayor Green to please present the following students their certificate of completion, which signifies their graduation from of the program.
Tim Arvidson Lyndsey Albright Kenneth Arnold Dana Bonham
Edward Broesel Cynthia Broesel Susan Clark Darrel Hird
Caryn Johnson Craig Kinnunen Charise Kirtright Gregory Korytkowski
Heather Looney Lauri Ann Maloney Jerad Marshall Sara Mikelson
Jason Morales Richard Morton Vincent Murphy Robin Ostroff
Brad Ostroff Beth Quereau Joyce Ruisi David Schmidt
Robert Southwick Diana Sterling Deborah Welch Mike White
John Wright
The class received surveys each week to provide feedback on the program. Again this year, their comments were overwhelmingly positive and provided the project team helpful guidance on making the program even better in the future. Following are a couple of examples of participant feedback:
“Living on the East Coast the majority of my life, this form of Government is foreign to me. I must admit, I am impressed with the ‘community involvement concept.’ While at times, the same may be a double-edged sword, I’m convinced the benefits outweigh the negatives. Community education seems to be the key to accomplishment of objectives.”
“It’s so cool to learn about all the moving parts that help our town run so efficiently and make it such a great place to live. Most citizens in the community don’t know how much is involved in running a town because it runs so smoothly.”
“This class, in and of itself, is extremely beneficial to any citizen. Knowledge enhances the experience(s) of all in terms of community living. Being able to tap the relevant resources enhances one’s ability to provide intelligent input into the process.”
Staff plans to offer Your Town Academy again in 2019. Applications will again be solicited in summer for a class beginning in the fall. Updates will be posted at CRgov.com/YTA.