City of Casa Grande

    Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 installment of the City of Casa Grande Leadership Academy.  The Leadership Academy is a focused, in-depth look at the city and its operations through eight sessions spread over approximately 13 weeks.  The 2010 Academy will be the seventh installment of the learning opportunity which has been held each year since 2003, except for the 2007 Academy which was not held due to limited response.  Joining the City of Casa Grande again in partnership sponsoring the 2010 Academy is Arizona Public Service, which has sponsored the event since its inception.
     “The City’s Leadership Academy is a wonderful opportunity for citizens who want to be more involved in their community to receive foundational information about how their local government works,” explained City Manager Jim Thompson.  “The feedback we’ve received from past participants has been universally positive and many of our Academy alumni serve on City board, commissions and committees.  Thompson added, “we’re particularly pleased that two of our City Council members, Karl Montoya and Matt Herman, are graduates of our Leadership Academy and went on to become local elected officials.  And we again thank our Leadership Academy partner, APS, for helping make this important program happen,” Thompson added.
     The Leadership Academy was started in response to the notion that some citizens don’t get more involved in their community due to lack of knowledge or just being intimidated by bureaucracy.  City Administrative Services Director Scott Barber has served each year as the coordinator of the Academy and explained the foundational premise.  “It seemed to many leaders we spoke with that the same individuals were serving in our local civic and charitable organizations, and on our City boards, commissions and committees every year.  We wanted to do something intentional to expand the limited pool of volunteers who are willing to step out and become involved and so we followed a good model from another Arizona community and, in partnership with Arizona Public Service Company, put the local Academy together,” Barber explained.
     The only requisites for Academy participation are residency within the City of Casa Grande and the ability to commit to attend the eight scheduled sessions.  “The every-other-week meeting schedule helps each scheduling problems with our attendees and our presenters,” Barber went on to explain.  “We’ll begin right after the first of the year and meet mostly on alternate Thursdays for about 2-1/2 hours in each session.  The meetings are very fast-aced and nobody has ever gotten bored with the content.”
 

For more information contact Scott Barber, Administrative Services Director, at 421-8600.

Download the Leadership Academy Application in fillable pdf