M. Khaled Ammari
PLS 201.14
3/7/2018
Extra Credit
On Monday, March 5th, 2018, I attended a city council meeting in Pomona. It
was a great first time experience especially because I got the chance to see the
Mayor, Tim Sandoval. When I arrived, I grabbed an agenda for the meeting, and sat
down next to a group of people and noticed that most of the people who attended
the meeting knew each other, seems like they are there whenever there is a city
council meeting. I saw JROTC members march with arms and the American flag, it
seemed like a great start to the meeting. After that, we recited the pledge of
allegiance, and the mayor gave us a brief overview of the meeting. The mayor
presented two proclamations proclaiming the month of March as “American Red
Cross Month” and was encouraged to donate or give blood to this campaign. Another
proclamation was approved and proclaimed March as “National Nutrition Month”
where this movement is hoping to better the health of the people in Pomona, and
invited the public to a 3-mile run every Tuesday. The mayor made a fascinating
announcement that I would like to share in my paper, that a resident in Pomona
recently turned 108 years old and she is now the oldest person in Pomona.
Public participation took place after announcing the proclamations. Each
speaker had the chance to speak for three minutes. Some topics that were discussed
are the trash we see on streets, organ donations, homelessness, importance of
religion in schools, unreasonable eviction notices, and story telling about the history
of Pomona. This went on for at least an hour. After the public participation came to
M. Khaled Ammari
PLS 201.14
3/7/2018
an end, about 70% of the room was empty. I stayed there for a little longer because I
was curious how they would tackle and pass the resolutions. The first resolution
was to amend “Major Street Rehabilitation,” this resolution was passed in the first
minute. Then a speaker came up to the podium and presented a slide show on the
second resolution amending the FY2017-18 capital improvement program (CIP)
budget by creating a new CIP project. This presentation went on for about 5
minutes.
The important lesson that I learned from the meeting is that if someone has
an issue with any local policies that may impact their day-to-day life then it is their
chance to speak up and address the issue to the public and the council members.
Overall it was a great experience and I am glad I got to meet the mayor, a humorous
selfless guy, and would encourage anyone who has not been to a city council
meeting to attend one.