Steamboat Springs, CO - Growing up in a village on the south side of Chicago with a population of just under 20,000, I thought I knew all about the small town lifestyle. But the truth is, my hometown was really just a small subset of the big city. In fact, at the end of the three-block walk to my high school, I’d cross the street and be officially in Chi-town. It’s been almost ten years since I left home, spending over half of that time in the Navy followed by a year and a half in Denver before packing up my RAV4 and moving into a rental with four rotating roommates in Old Town.

I quickly learned, or so I thought, the ins and outs of how Steamboat functioned, and how to successfully function in it. I began working at a local pizza joint while simultaneously (and begrudgingly) working as an Instacart shopper during peak season and shortly thereafter starting at Ski Town Media. Needing three separate sources of income just to survive living a ski bum lifestyle isn’t everyone's idea of an ideal life, but as many locals know, we work hard so we can play hard.

But one thing I took for granted is all that goes into our local government working together to keep this place running smoothly. That’s why, in early November of last year, I filled out my application to participate in City 101, the goals of which are described on the city’s website: to create a shared understanding of the city’s mission and purpose, increase community and employee understanding of the city and all of its operations, and enhance community member and employee ability to serve as an ambassador for the city. Given that I’m hoping to call Steamboat Springs my forever home, I jumped at the opportunity.

Our first meeting took place in early December, where we started the day by introducing ourselves then getting an earful about the City’s Home Rule Charter, which was established on June 19, 1973, deciding that the city would have an elective council to enact local legislation and determine policies, as well as a city manager chosen by the council to be responsible for the administrative functions of the city. After lunch, we got to hear from said council members, the city manager, the city attorney and a municipal judge.

The second meeting in January was more hands-on, as we first broke into groups and learned about what goes into city planning (which truly gave me a newfound respect for what the planners have to do and deal with on a daily basis). Later, we spent our afternoon with the winter crew of Parks and Recreation at Howelsen Ice Arena where we were given a tour of the facility, spent some time playing on the bumper cars and each taking a lap on around the ice on the Zamboni (a cathartic job I’ve always wanted to do).

At our most recent meeting, the morning was spent at the Combined Law Enforcement Facility (aka the police station). As someone who's adamantly against the idea of “the thin blue line,” I’d be lying if I said I was comfortable spending a day there, but at least in the morning the finance department kept their powerpoints interesting by giving out candy. Scheduled for the afternoon was the police department, where, according to the syllabus, their weapons would be put on display. Having served in the military during wartime created a distaste for weapons of any kind (and also having gotten to do a ride-along with one of our local police officers), so I didn’t bother sticking around.

There are five more meetings to go before the program ends in May, and while the tasks are often mundane, getting a glimpse at the hard work our city government does has definitely been an eye opening experience. Whether you agree with the decisions they make or not, there’s no denying that the work they do is critical to keeping this special place afloat and I applaud each and every one of them for it.

To learn more about the program, visit https://www.steamboatsprings.net/524/City-101