Tonight was the first official Greeley City Council meeting after the elections, but Mayor Tom Norton was absent. Norton is currently attending a three-day seminar on "Transition and Leadership for Newly Elected Mayors" at Harvard University.
In his absence, mayor pro-tem John Gates led the meeting. For being asked to lead his very first meeting, Gates seemed very comfortable wielding the mayoral gavel. Gates was direct, clear, and courteous throughout the meeting. He seems ready to lead again if Norton has to miss another meeting.
The meeting itself was extremely short, but it was interesting to see the new council at work. Even with two citizens giving their input, two council members making remarks, and two pulled consent agenda items, the meeting was only twenty-five minutes long. This is by-far the shortest meeting of the semester.
Council member Donna Sapienza attended a Poudre Heritage Alliance event at the university yesterday. She asked City Attorney Rick Brady for more information about the group. Brady, a member of the Alliance, discussed northern Colorado's plan to support the heritage area and hopefully bring in tourists.
This was the last City Council meeting I will be attending this semester, and I can say it has been an interesting experience. They have reinforced my desire to not get involved in politics, even at the local area. I respect the City Council members for doing what they do, but I could never help run a city myself.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Into the Fire
Our JMC 312 class got a first-hand look at how newspapers work when we visited the Greeley Tribune on election night.
When I got there, I was surprised at how open the newsroom was. The room is huge and filled with desks, computers, and tiny television screens. I always envisioned a newsroom as someplace small and cluttered; the Tribune is clean and inviting. I look forward to working in a newsroom like this one.
The main event of the night was the page one meeting. In a page one meeting the editors and reporters come together and discuss what is happening with the "A" page of the paper. The reporters find out what they are writing, how much space they have to write it, and when the deadline is. There is no reaction quite like when a reporter learns that their story's space has gone from twelve inches to ten inches, a difference of sixty words.
Randy Bangert, editor of the Greeley Tribune, understands that the Greeley election is a huge event. "We certainly want to beat CNN when we report these races," he said. This humor is typical of the newspaper staff; they are very laid back and like to joke around, even when dealing with deadlines. Inspired, we spent time sharing humorous stories of our own.
Tonight was fascinating, but I do not think I would like to cover a local election. A national election would be interesting since it can hold the attention of an entire nation, but there is too much apathy from residents in a local election for me to care enough about it.
For those interested, here are the results of the election.
When I got there, I was surprised at how open the newsroom was. The room is huge and filled with desks, computers, and tiny television screens. I always envisioned a newsroom as someplace small and cluttered; the Tribune is clean and inviting. I look forward to working in a newsroom like this one.
The main event of the night was the page one meeting. In a page one meeting the editors and reporters come together and discuss what is happening with the "A" page of the paper. The reporters find out what they are writing, how much space they have to write it, and when the deadline is. There is no reaction quite like when a reporter learns that their story's space has gone from twelve inches to ten inches, a difference of sixty words.
Randy Bangert, editor of the Greeley Tribune, understands that the Greeley election is a huge event. "We certainly want to beat CNN when we report these races," he said. This humor is typical of the newspaper staff; they are very laid back and like to joke around, even when dealing with deadlines. Inspired, we spent time sharing humorous stories of our own.
Tonight was fascinating, but I do not think I would like to cover a local election. A national election would be interesting since it can hold the attention of an entire nation, but there is too much apathy from residents in a local election for me to care enough about it.
For those interested, here are the results of the election.
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