Daly City – Tired of hearing about
the State of California raiding local tax monies?
On Monday, April 18, 2005,
23 seniors from Jefferson and Westmoor high
schools will have an opportunity to role play
a designated city official in Daly City, in
a scenario that offers a chance for them to
learn about the wide range of services provided
by a municipality. This year, the students will
simulate a wishful gold-rush scenario: a $20
million payback check from the State of California
on the first year and an additional $2 million
a year for the next 10 years.
Starting at 6 p.m., at the
Council Chambers located at
333 – 90 th Street in Daly City, the students
will assume the roles of their city government
mentors. As student-Department Directors, they
will present agenda items that were prepared
and submitted to the student-City Clerk last
April 8. As student-Mayor and Councilmembers,
they will review, assess and compromise on the
various ways to best utilize hypothetical, and
unexpected, revenues over the next two fiscal
years and beyond.
After many years of seeing red marks over
proposed local services, event organizers decided
to re-write last year’s “dream a
little California dream” scenario for
this year’s Students in Local
Government 2005 class. “Instead
of the predictable budget cutbacks, students
will develop a $20 million citywide Services
and Facilities Enhancement Plan for the next
fiscal year, plus $2 million more each year
for the next 10 years. We wanted them to see
the difference $40 million makes – which
approaches Daly City revenues taken by the State
since 1981,” explained Assistant City
Manager Jane Chambers.
The one-hour meeting will be videotaped, to be
aired at a later date on the city’s government-access
cable channel (Channel 27 for Comcast subscribers
and Channel 26 for RCN subscribers). The annual
program, which is sponsored by the City of Daly
City and the Jefferson Union High School District,
provides teens with a firsthand look at the internal
operations of a city government, while fulfilling
a social science graduation requirement.
