register |  login
› NORTHGLENN
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

Northglenn getting it right !!

Contributed by: Rosie Garner on 10/1/2006

Northglenn did something really wonderful last week. The City Council and Mayor Novak conducted a process for selection of a new City Manager that in my mind was second to none.

Having been criticized and scolded in the past for not involving our citizens in major decions that affect them directly, (ie; the proposed new recreation center that citizens defeated in a ballot question in 2005), we may just have learned our lesson, or at least we're on the right track. Since that election, we have tried very hard along with enormous support from city staff to do a much better job of engaging our citizens to be with us at the table, so to speak. Our government is totally visible and transparent from the outside. We put all our documents on the website, our Council meetings, Boards and Commission meetings are audio-streamed on our website, our Council meetings are videotaped for the city's local channel 8. We've made a concerted effort to connect with citizens and offer an increasing number of opportunities for them to give us input on Northglenn's bright future.

Last week's City Manager selection process was an example of a citizen-oriented event.It meant sharing the responsibility of selecting a Manager for the city with those we represent. As a Council, we had narrowed down our candidates from an incredibly talented group to just three finalists. The process began with City Hall department visits with staff, a tour of the city, and an informal reception with staff and citizens at the Ramada Plaza on Friday night. This provided the citizens and staff with the opportunity to mingle and ask questions of the candidates in a relaxed environment.

On Saturday morning, the second round of Council interviews with the candidates was videotaped for Channel 8, again in an open public session. Directly after that, the citizens of our city were invited to provide written questions to be delivered to the candidates in a forum fashion. There were over 40 questions, each one answered by both candidates. We didn't care about time, everyone needed to be heard. Upon completion, the candidates were dismissed and the citizens were encouraged to give councilmembers their opinions and preferences.

We made a decision. The vote was unanimous. I loved every minute of this process. Our candidates said they had never experienced this kind of process before, nor had our management consultant who did our recruitment.

I'm proud of our Council, proud of our citizens and welcome our new City Manager to our community, safely assured that he has been selected with many hearts and minds pulled together.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Current Rating
Based on 5 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Rosie Garner

northglenn , CO

Rosie Garner has posted 5 stories and 5 comments since joining on 3/27/2006. Rosie Garner 's average story rating is 3.95.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos