Sunday, April 28, 2002
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Sunday, April 28, 2002 |
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A day at City Hall
By MONROE ROARK
The debate was spirited in the council chambers at Fayetteville City hall Wednesday afternoon, but not from the usual suspects. A government class of seniors from Fayette County High School took over the room for its annual mock City Council meeting, as students filled the roles of mayor, council members and city staff to discuss the city's new sign ordinance. The students came in for the big day with relatively little time for preparation and not much help from teacher Peter Lewin, who was obviously pleased with the results of his class project. The topic is chosen each year by real city officials, who always try to come up with something controversial, Lewin said. This year, the class was notified only a couple of weeks in advance. Also, there was little actual class time spent on the project, as Lewin took only one day in class to review the sign ordinance with the group. The students who participated got the bulk of their information from their own research, interviewing city officials themselves and doing whatever other legwork was necessary. The participants were chosen in much the same way we all choose our real-life political participants with an election. Seven class members ran for posts on the City Council, and three vied for the mayor's seat. Those who survived that process to take part in the meeting included Mayor Greg Asworth and council members Rebekah Cline, Lanedra Howard, Joey Joslin, Jonathan Shaw and Kyle Williams. Other roles were filled by Kevin Walker (planning director), Chase Scott (engineering director), Matt Langley (building official) and Jennifer Goldsmith (Main Street director). The meeting was adjourned in just under an hour, as the council voted to approve the sign ordinance before departing for a leisurely walk back to campus.
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