Residents praise Citizens Government Academy as a window into city operations

Two residents who completed the Citizens Government Academy described the program as a revealing look at how the city manages budgets and services and urged others to apply.

The program "gave me a really good understanding of how the city works and really why it does some of the things that it does," said S1, a resident and academy participant. S1 said a budget exercise in the course — where participants allocated about $1,000,000 while absorbing an unavoidable $200,000 emergency expense — showed how difficult tradeoffs force officials to balance fire, police and other services.

S2, another resident and academy participant, said attending a Citizens Police Academy session and hearing City Manager Brian Heck speak led them to enroll. "Hearing his passion for what's going on in the city" and learning "what the city has done, what they are doing, and what they plan on doing" motivated their participation, S2 said. S2 said the experience altered their prior view that smaller city governments face fewer problems, noting instead that they confront similar issues to larger governments but with fewer resources.

Both participants singled out hands-on sessions. S2 described a visit to a fire station and the drone center, including CPR practice and seeing a fire truck in action, as particularly memorable. "You learn a new appreciation for them, and everything that they do," S2 said.

S1 said the academy also demonstrated leadership attention to public funds: "the city really does a lot to make sure that every tax dollar is spent for good," they said, praising city leaders' diligence with public dollars.

Both participants encouraged others to apply. S1 called the 10-week program "a chance of a lifetime" to spend time with city leadership; S2 said, "stop considering and do it," arguing that informed citizens strengthen local government conversations.

The program’s next session date and enrollment details were not specified in the remarks.