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When the students arrived, Mayor Goodman greeted them
in his office.
He began by explaining that he was new to the
position of mayor for the city, so he had asked Chief Mark Miller of
the Lincoln Fire Department to join him in giving the tour. Goodman
said as a brand new mayor there were things that he too had yet to
learn about the city of Lincoln and about City Hall. Chief Miller on
the other hand has been with the city for several years, and he and
his firemen give tours of the fire department every fall during Fire
Safety and Prevention Week.
Goodman asked the kids if they had questions they would like to ask
about the city. The students had several good questions including
what it costs to run the city on a daily basis. The students were
told that the annual budget was approximately $13 million. It was
also suggested that at the end of the tour, when they go back to
their classroom, they could do the math and figure out what the
average daily cost to run the city would be.
Chief Miller also explained that sometimes, it depends on what is
being done at the moment. As an example he said that the city has
approved buying a new fire truck for his department, so he is
shopping for one now. When it comes time to buy the truck, the city
will spend about $1 million on that one item.
The kids talked about running the city as a business, and their
teacher Emily Kohl explained that right now the kids are studying
business and entrepreneurship including learning how to understand a
budget.
The students were asked if any of them would like to someday be the
mayor of Lincoln. There were several who said they would, including
one young lady who said that would be just the beginning for her.
Her true goal is to be the first woman president of the United
States.
One young student said his career goal was to be a paleontologist.
That was a very big word, and he was asked if he could define what
that career would be. Of course he answered correctly when he said
it would be the study of prehistoric life, specifically dinosaurs.
The students where asked if any of them knew how old the city hall
building was. While they couldn’t pin down the exact year, all knew
the building was built in the 1800’s.
After a few more minutes visiting, Miller began the tour with the
Building and Safety Office. He explained the duties of the Code
Officer for the city of Lincoln then moved on to the City Clerk’s
Office where newly elected City Clerk Peggy Bateman and her staff
greeted the children and welcomed them to city hall.
Miller again explained the duties of each person who
worked in that office, from collecting sewer bills, to writing
paychecks for city workers and much more.
The kids also had the opportunity to ‘by-chance’ meet Street
Superintendent Walt Landers. Landers was stopping in at city hall as
he does daily to pick-up mail and perform other duties that he must
do at city hall. Landers chatted with the kids briefly before they
moved on to the next stage of their tour.
Moving on, Miller pointed out the city treasurer’s office, where the
door was locked. The students understood that the treasurer is the
one who takes care of the city’s money. Joking with the kids, he
said that the city’s $13 million was all stacked up in that office.
He wondered how tall that stack would be. Some bought into the joke
and offered a guess, but for the most part, they all knew that the
money was not stacked in the office.
As the tour began to head toward the fire station, Alderman Rick
Hoefle who represents Ward 4 in Lincoln arrived. He said he had
heard there was something really great going on at city hall and
decided to come and check it out. Hoefle stayed with the group for
the rest of the tour.
In the fire station, the firefighters were busy cleaning up one of
the trucks. The students grabbed sponges and brushes and pretended
to be helping, just long enough for a couple of snapshots.
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Miller explained the large maps on the wall of the
station, one of the county and one of the city.
After checking out the firefighter gear, students were led by Miller
to the upstairs portion of the fire station and the firefighter
dorms. The students learned that the firefighters stay at the
station all day and all night, and when there are no calls they
sometimes sleep upstairs.
When Miller showed them the pole that firefighters
slide down, all of them were excited and wanted to give it a try,
but Miller said unfortunately that would not be permitted.
Moving on, the students where shown the living areas for the
firefighters as well as the offices for the fire inspector, the
deputy chiefs and Miller’s office before moving on to the council
chambers.
Before officially leaving the fire station portion of
the building each student was made an honorary fire chief with the
presentation of their own red fire hat.
In the council chambers, the students right away were impressed with
the size of the space and the desks labeled with the individual
aldermen and department heads. With Hoefle being present, Miller
asked each one to find the ‘Rick Hoefle’ seat. Then they were
allowed to take a seat at one of the desks in the room.
Eight students took on the aldermen positions with
one young lady quickly grabbing up the mayoral position. The city
administrator, city attorney, city clerk, and council secretary
positions were quickly filled with the spill-over of students then
moving on to take up a position as one for the six departments for
the city.
The students were told about the voting process in city council, and
to bring it home for them, Miller suggested they hold a meeting. The
question posed to the “council” was “what shall we have for lunch
today?” The ‘mayor’ than accepted motions for mac and cheese,
hamburgers, and brussel sprouts. She then took the vote. Hamburgers
won out by a wide margin and the poor brussel sprouts never stood a
chance, receiving zero votes.
Hoefle told the kids that for aldermen sometimes the choices are not
so easy. He said sometimes what the city has before them is the
brussel sprouts versus spinach, and yet they as alderman must choose
one or the other.
As the day began to wrap up, the students wanted to know if the
general public comes to the city council, and if so why; what kinds
of things do they want from the aldermen.
Goodman, Hoefle, and Miller all offered up examples, saying that the
public can come to the council for any number of things from
problems with weeds growing too high in a neighbor’s yard, to pot
holes in the streets, and also concerns about city business.
As the last order of business before adjourning their council
meeting, the mock aldermen and department heads gathered at the
front of the room for a group photo that included their three hosts.
It was reported that the students would be leaving city hall, and
might just swing by the Logan County Courthouse to check out county
government before heading back to the classroom. The kids all
thanked Goodman, Miller, and Hoefle for an excellent tour before
heading on their way.
[Nila Smith] |
