For the last 10 weeks a group of 28 citizens from all 9 districts in the City of Buffalo have met to hear presentations by city departments as part of Mayor Brown’s Citizen Participation Academy. The class was conceived of as a way to give citizens an understanding of the day-to-day operations of city government, and supply an interactive forum in which to meet the leaders at city hall. The goal is for the participants to become liaisons between community based organizations and city hall, and as active volunteers within city government.
The class–the second ever to participate in this program–performed a variety of functions and was able to sit in with operators in the Mayor’s Call and Resolution Center. They became addicted to Citi-Stat, and went out on the streets with police officers, watching their “partner” enter buildings where violent disputes had been reported. The class experienced the adrenaline of fire training, as emergency vehicles raced up and dealt with a vehicle fire and extricated “dummy victims” with the “jaws of death”. The group appreciated the truly amazing architecture of the city from the top of city hall and the inside of the remarkable water pumping station.
The class participants heard impassioned lectures from Superintendent of Schools, Dr. James Williams; and Fire Commissioner, Michael Lombardo. They learned about the pride the personnel of the Public Works Water Treatment Plant take in delivering excellent quality water. They witnessed the camaraderie of the police detectives in a press conference announcing a major arrest, and they discovered city services like the Buffalo Employment and Training Center, a gold mine of services and training for job seekers.
They grew to appreciate the web of communications the MIS department is dealing with as they bring the city technology into the 21st century, and the effort by the office of strategic planning to keep attention and resources focused on the commitments made by City Hall to the citizens. Whether it was the mind-numbing projects of the law department or the taxation department, directors and staff, the class heard from people who are our neighbors and fellow citizens who just happen to work at City Hall.
The elected class chair, Donna Brown, said in her remarks at the graduation ceremony, that many of us have interfaced with these department directors, commissioners, and staff in official or personal capacities but this program allowed us to see the humanity behind the news report, and has also given us knowledge to be a productive part of the effort to make Buffalo a great place to live for all residents.
The next class will take place in the fall of 2007. Applications may be obtained on line here. Director Oswaldo Mestre, Jr. and Coordinator, Tamara Wright run the program, initiated by Mayor Brown, out of the Office of Citizen Services.
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