Attending Government Proceeding Assignment
Complete this assignment by attending or viewing remotely a city of Miami, FL or county government meeting and writing a brief analysis of the proceedings.
The meeting you attend must be a government proceeding: a city commission, county commission, zoning board, county/city committee meeting, or mayor’s or commissioner’s town hall. It cannot be a meeting of a political party or non-government community group.
Many local government bodies broadcast their meetings on television and online. If you are not able to attend a meeting in person, you may view one remotely. Start with a simple web search for meetings of your local city or county government, and proceed from there.
Your response should be around 500 words long, and should address these questions:
- What type of meeting did you attend?
- Which government officials were in attendance?
- What issues did the officials address?
- What procedures did they use for making decisions on those issues? (e.g., did they hold votes?)
- How did political officials solicit and handle input from the general public at the meeting?
- What issues did members of the general public bring to the attention of the elected officials?
Be sure to explain each part of your response in depth and use sources from class — readings or lectures — to support and/or to illuminate your observations.