Blog Assessment

      For me I rather enjoyed the blog assignment. This was a lot different than most journalism assignments because we had to do research before and worked on a deadline. It also allowed us to choose a topic that we found to be most interesting and not have to be told what to write on. Throughout the semester I learned a lot and was able to improve on my interview skills as well as gain more confidence in my writing. These are two of the most important things for a journalist to have. If a journalist doesn’t have either then it will show in their writing. For me I wish that we did a little more work on how to prepare for interviews because those are a key part for any journalist. The most difficult thing for me was gaining the confidence for the interviews and making sure that I had the right questions that I needed to ask in order to get the information that I needed. I always felt that I was underprepared for the interviews even if I had 20 questions for the interview. The best advice I can give a student entering JMC 312 is to have confidence in your ability as a journalist. Having confidence is the best thing you can have because it will reflect in your work.

End of the Fiscal Year

                The end of the fiscal year is upon us and it is time to prepare for the next year.  In order for the city of Greeley to prepare they must first approve the budget for the upcoming year. The city council must approve the budget by December 15 of every year.

                The budget was first presented on November 20. The final reading was scheduled for December 4.

                “Budget preparation is a tedious project,” John Gates, Mayor Pro Tem, said.  He was referring to the time that it took for the budget to be first presented to the time it took for the final reading.

                One major change in the budget it is the amount of money that the police and fire department receives. It can be seen that it has gone up quite a bit over the past two years, but when the police department receives 8.3% more than 2011. The fire department receives 6.8% more than 2011 as well.

                “If the police and fire are treading water then other government employees are drowning,” councilmember Donna Sapienza said. She was referring to the increase to the police and fire department and how it is an important part of any community.

                As each fiscal year comes and goes you can expect to see certain departments funding continue to grow because of their importance to the community.

                The budget passed unanimously on Tuesday December 4, 2012.