MAG Mtgs, Ribbon Cuttings, and More!!

On Wednesday I attended the regional Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) meeting for all of the mayors in the valley.  Each town/city has members on numerous committees that meet downtown at the MAG offices.  Committee members discuss certain issues (transportation, water, waste, etc.) and develop agreements or policy suggestions on whatever the issue may be.  There are then two seperate regional meetings, one for the mayors and one for managers.  At the meeting, there were several speakers from outside departments and agencies that gave presentations.  The mayor voted on several agenda items.  The purpose of having all of the meetings before hand are to ensure that each issue/policy has been vetted by the appropriate staff and the city/town position is already agreed upon and known.  Here I met a few of the mayors as well as many of the intergovernmental mangagers across the valley.  Mayor Lewis of Gilbert was even kind enough to surprise me with a formal introduction prior to adjournment of the meeting.

After the MAG meeting downtown, the IG manger raced back to Gilbert to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for a charter school that the Mayor spoke at.  I am definitely seeing all of the different aspects city officials/staff duties.

Last week I also attended a town council meeting.  What was interesting about the council meeting is that during the weeks prior, I was able to observe conversations and meetings that led to the agenda items for the meeting.  I will be attending another council meeting this Thursday night.

Learning Through Observance

As promised, I wanted to give an update on some of the events/meetings that I have been able to attend the past two weeks. 

Last week, the Town of Gilbert held a Mayor's Ambassador Forum on Economic Development.  I got there early to help sign people in and give them name tags, but was still able to watch some of the presenters and meet some of the attendees.  The purpose of this Forum was not only to provide an update on new developments in Gilbert, but also to allow for individuals in the business community to network with each other and with town officials.  The presenters were from all different areas of business; Luke AFB, Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, PHX-Mesa Gateway Airport, and some other private companies.

While I was standing in the back of the room (there were so many people in attendance the council chambers were filled up!) I saw a familiar face in the audience.  It was one of my high school teacher and mentor's, who I even took a school trip to Europe with, husband.  He is a retired city manager and now works for EVP, but still, small world, huh?  This led me to find out that there were two others who currently work for Gilbert that also had her as a teacher.  The next week, my direct boss for the internship mentioned that he spoke with her about me at the event.

What did I learn from this experience?  The importance of networking and building connections.

That same day, I went to the "Budget Kickoff".  Gilbert has an excellent budget team and a fresh and efficient methodology when it comes to developing their budget.  All of the managers and directors were in attendance, as well as any town staff that were interested.  Basically, they provided an overview of the entire budget process and directed individuals on how they can be a part of the process.  I really feel like I am learning so much about so many different areas of local governmenet; and maybe it's geeky, but it's really exciting for me!! ;)

Project Update!

This post might be a little boring, but I wanted to provide an update on my project and what I've have learned from simply undertaking it.

So far, I've broken down all of the data that I was given and determined that there has been an increase on fees paid to ADEQ.  Some of these increases were actually passed through AZ legislation because ADEQ made a case that since monies they receive from the general fund were cut they needed to generate other funds in order to sustain their services.  Today I met with a few individuals here at the town and got some contact information for individuals outside of the organizataion who might be able to help me gather more info.  My goal is to create statistical and graphical representation of the overall money paid to ADEQ and  increases and to present the policy implications that the increases have had on the town. 

Initially, I thought that the goal of my project would be to try and persuade an organization that the increase in fees is harmful to the town and therefore the citizens, however since I've been working on it, I realize that there are other purposes to this project.  The potential for getting these fees revoked is pretty slim, but there is an importance to having concrete facts and statistics on ADEQ  fees and municipalities.  When it comes time to address the legislature, town representatives can present the case (with representation) that they have already undergone a significant increase in fees that they pay to state departments.  Additionally, this research provides benefits to the town because they will have a better and more accurate understanding of the fees that they are required to pay and will be better able to incorporate this information into their budget.

I will post more later about some of the other meetings and events I attended last week, so stay tuned :)

My First Couple of Days

I officially started my internship on Monday, with the Manager's Office in the Town of Gilbert.  I went in Monday afternoon, got set up with my badge and was shown to my desk.  My cubicle is right across from the Deputy Town Manager and Town Manger's offices so I already met a lot of directors and managers who were going in to meetings with the Manager.

I was given my first project to start on immediately; from scratch.  My goal is to determine whether or not the fees the town pays to a state department have increased over the past several years, if so, is there any rationale or real reason behind the increase.  I was basically given a spreadsheet with some data regarding fees paid to a state department, some points of contact within the town, and left on my own to figure out what to do.  I'm excited and a little nervous to be working on this project on my own.

That was day one.  On Tuesday, I was able to attend the weekly Executive Staff Meeting where all of the department directors and managers get together to discuss current projects and agenda items for the upcoming Council Meetings.  This was a really interesting experience.  I think it's fantastic how Gilbert integrates the different departments and ensures that each one know what is going on throughout all the different areas of the town. 

Starting Tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow is the first day of my internship with the Town of Gilbert.  All I know so far is that I will be working with the Intergovernmental Relations Department and that they already have a project ready for me to work on.  I'm so excited for this opportunity because I grew up in Mesa, right next door to Gilbert and saw it undergo immense growth and development over the past 15 years.  I feel like I will be getting an inside perspective on how the town got to where it is today.  Can't wait for tomorrow to see more about what I'll be doing this semester and to get things underway.