City Hall hosted 65 high school students for the 25th annual Student Government Day, put together by the Downtown Rotary Club 32 (St. Joseph). The teenagers shadowed department heads such as Police Chief Chris Connally, Fire Chief Mike Dalsing, and City Council members to gain a firsthand look at local government.
Students began with a tour of the Police Department, courthouse and area along the Riverfront the city is hoping to develop.
“It’s really cool to see everybody work on things that will impact the community, very directly, and working to make St. Joe just better all the time,” said Rylee Alden of Lafayette High School. She was city manager for the day. “I’ve been thinking of doing a career in government, so this has been really good to get some experience and seeing what it’s really like.”
Danielle Dotson from St. Joseph Central was mayor for the day. She also was interested in working in government after her experience at City Hall.
“Local government here is very important,” Dotson said. “We got to look around and see the (Blacksnake) tunnel project, and we got to see that this really does matter because what we say goes into effect. The community has such an important voice that they need to use.”
The climax of the afternoon was a mock City Council meeting. Students acting the part of concerned citizens debated the merits of the agenda, which included ordinances on a new fire department training facility, resurfacing roads, health inspections for tattoo parlors and the approval of a new Capital Improvements Program tax.
The student police department tried to convince the student council to pass an ordinance restricting the use of cellphones in vehicles. The measure was voted down, 7-2.
“The key to development is involvement and civic engagement,” Mayor Bill McMurray said.
This story was written by Ryan Hennessy and printed in newsperessnow.com.