Civic Engagement Assignment

The name of the organization I choose to follow and attend was a meeting for was
the West Jordan City Council. It is a local form of government in the city of West
Jordan. They determine laws and regulations for the city as well as many other
defined governmental roles. The City of West Jordan has 7 city council members,
the mayor, and 6 other council members. As far as I saw there is also seats for the
West Jordan police department, fire department, and the city lawyer. The meetings
are held on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 6:00 P.M.
I attended this meeting March 14, at 6:00 P.M., and in total I counted 28 others
including myself. Most of the which were Boy Scouts of America, who lead the
Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Half of the Boy Scouts left shortly after the
Pledge of Allegiance. There was also local Senators and people from the House of
Representatives. The Senators and House of Reps that were in attendance talked
about recent bills passed and things they were fighting for in congress which could
benefit the city of West Jordan. There was no press, however there was talk of
potential future YouTube recordings, but the meeting was audio recorded.
During the meeting the police force talked about recent problems with an arsonist
in West Jordan and the apprehension and confiscation of all paraphernalia that the
criminal used. The police force also talked about increased threats to schools and
how they took every case seriously and sent all the suspects to jail. For the
upcoming meeting, a new park was to be discussed as well as any further
information on the construction on Bangerter Hwy and 9000 South. Reports from
citizens regarding noise levels in that area have been a primary concern. Talk of a
better sound wall was mentioned for later discussion. Lastly the council members
brought up the announcement of what four lucky students out of the local schools
would receive scholarship for college would be released in the upcoming meeting.
The local state Senators took the floor shortly after and announced that there is
now more funding to education than ever before.
I will have attached the Minutes/Agendas of the meeting I attended as well as 3
others. It will provide the info of what happened in the meetings and what took
place. Overall after attending the meeting I was shocked to discover just how
involved a small local government is in our daily lives. While budget agendas are
what I anticipated, it was surprising learning that the local police force and fire
department are a big part of the city council meetings. I learned that even
scholarships were done a local government level.