Description
All students are required to view a local government public meeting. This includes (but is not limited to) select board, school board, zoning board, recreation boards, legislative sessions, and so on. You are not geographically restricted in where you attend the meeting (particularly because all attendance will be virtual!). Local options include any one of the 18 incorporated cities/towns in San Diego county; the county itself; other California cities/towns; or wherever you happen to be this summer). This is a typed write up (minimum 1,500 words) analyzing the meeting.
At minimum your write-up should address the following:
- A description of what transpired during the meeting (form of leadership, structure, room set-up, number of people present, their various roles, summary of issues, content of meeting, and so on).
- What issues were addressed? Were there problems confronted? Concerns identified? Issues raised? Problem-solving methods? Citizen involvement? Your own involvement?
- What did you observe about the role of public input? Were there members of the public in attendance? Did they speak? Why is this relevant to discuss?
- Any additional discussion of how the content/format of the meeting relates to the course material.
- Why are public meetings important, both in general and specifically as it relates to the operation of local governments?
- Anything else you think is worth noting.
