Coming to an End..

As a senior that has taken my fair share of journalism classes, I can honestly say that I have never taken a class quite like Reporting Contemporary Issues. Become actively involved in this year’s City Council elections, I learned so much about how local governments work, including budgets, city planning and city jurisdictions. I now feel comfortable knowing that Greeley’s City Council is there to help out its citizens in any way possible.

The one thing that I wish was covered was different types of government instead of just the Council-Manager system that Greeley has. Different cities are run differently and it would be interesting to see the differences between them and Greeley.

Prior to the beginning of this class, I would have liked to have known that you get a lot of experience outside of the classroom that is extremely beneficial to anyone in this career field.

The most difficult thing I faced with this class was finding time to interview the City Council members. With their schedules filling up so quickly, I was greatly appreciative when they took time out of their day to give me an interview.

My advice for students planning to take this class is to take in everything you learn. It is a lot of work for one class but it is also a great opportunity to experience reporting on a bigger scale.

New Council Steps In

Coming together tonight for the first time, the new City Council members were more than comfortable with the new arrangement. Keeping the meeting a mere half hour long, a lot was covered, from comments expressed by the public for concerns of drugs and crime in our city to another sharing her overall gratitude for everything the City Council, as well as the city, does for its residents.

Council member Donna Sapienza of Ward II was first to speak among the Council. She shined light on the good work of Rick Brady, along with several University of Northern Colorado students preserving and maintaining the rivers among northern Colorado.

At Large council member Maria Secrest also spread thanks and gratitude to once again be on council and how much she has enjoyed working with the past Council.

There was one very important person missing from tonight’s meeting. Mayor Tom Norton was absent due to a three day seminar held at Harvard University for newly elected mayors, and newly elected he was. Norton has officially been mayor for a little over a day now. A special meeting was held last night to swear in Norton and relieve Ed Clark of his duties.

Overall, I think the new members are going to fit perfectly fine within their new seats at Greeley’s Council Chambers.

And The Winner Is...

As we were covering city elections at the Greeley Tribune on election night, reporters and editors alike were hurrying to get out the latest results of this year’s winners. The night began with a staff meeting where Editor Randy Bangert along with Managing Editor Kelly Tracer, designated which staffers were to cover which area of the election.

Tonight, ballots were starting to add up and certain candidates were gaining momentum. Everyone was most curious about mayoral candidates. Ed Phillipsen and Tom Norton have been racing neck and neck for months now and tonight would be to deciding finish line. As of 7:30 P.M., Norton was ahead of Phillisen by only .02 percent.

For Ward II, Donna Sapienza had a foot up over Randy Sleight. Ward III, John Gates has won by a landslide. Ward IV is neck and neck with Mike Finn and Bill Sterling. City At Large is also a guarantee with Sandi Elder’s win over Thomas “TJ” Marlo and Tim Annable.

Overall, a newsroom can be a very happening place, especially on election nights. I learned while being at the Greeley Tribune that you get to become very close to your co-workers and come to depend on the information they give you.

Public speaks out

During another heated debate at this week’s City Council meeting, council members received an earful when it came to prohibiting the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries. Residents and medical marijuana dispensary owners came from Greeley, Evans, Gilcrest and La Salle to speak their minds about allowing this business to come to Greeley.

Richard Present, who currently works for Nature’s Medicine, spoke on several different occasions at the City Council meeting, is a strong advocate in making this business legal in Greeley.

“Loveland alone got $6,700 from medical marijuana dispensaries,” said Present. “We get at least 150 patients from Greeley a week and Loveland gets all those taxes.”

Another speaker was Jeri Shepherd, an attorney in Greeley. She stated what benefits medical marijuana holds. Nobody can overdose on cannibus. It is safer than alcohol and most over-the-counter prescription drugs and has been linked to lowering alcoholism. Shepherd is also an advocate for Sensible Colorado, which is Colorado’s leading medical marijuana advocacy organization.

However all council members had something to say on why they feel this ordinance should pass. Mayor Ed Clark was one of the first to speak on the matter.

“I have a real problem with opening dispensaries in Greeley,” said Clark. “I have a problem with it. I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Council members voted against this resolution.

City Council Speaks its Peace

A great portion of the Oct. 6 City Council meeting was devoted to establishing development fees for public improvements, facilities and equipment, drainage and transportation services. Tim Nash, Greeley’s financial director, showed council members the cost of building permits in neighboring cities such as Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont and Windsor. All council members argued against raising these fees due mainly to the poor economy we’re in. They feel many residents, as well as businesses, will suffer with these increases. I think Mayor Ed Clark said it best when he claimed that it doesn’t make sense to be the city with the least progress in the area, yet have the highest rate of fees and nothing to show for it. Council member Charles Archebeque was quite vocal when it came to his opinion on the matter.

“I am definitely opposed to raising fees until economy improves. Maybe in a year’s time it could be considered again.” All members feel the same way Archebeque does. As a result, this ordinance was denied by the council. In my opinion, raising fees for development projects around the city when homeowners are possibly taking out mortgages on their house to pay bills just doesn’t make sense.

Getting Started

My first thoughts I had when I was asked to start blogging was my complete lack of technology intuition. Writing a web log was something I never thought I would have to do with a news-editorial degree. The only thing I know I will be able to do through blogging is write a complete sentence.
This assignment is different from others because it requires much more knowledge of your way around a computer and through a web site. I have yet to take a college course that has to relate to blogging in any way, but so far I will graciously try any new experiences. Overall, I think I will like being able to express my thoughts on news I come across.