By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
The newest members of the Washington City Council will take part in an orientation session Jan. 4, 2010, to help familiarize them with city facilities and operations.
Councilmen Ed Moultrie, William Pitt and Bobby Roberson likely will be joined by new Mayor Archie Jennings and veteran council members Doug Mercer and Gil Davis during the session. The orientation tour has become sort of a tradition for new council members, providing them a close look at the city’s facilities such as Brown Library, parks and recreation centers. It also provides them a chance to learn how the city turns raw water into drinking water, how it treats wastewater and how its electric system works.
The orientation session begins at 1 p.m. Jan. 4 in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, also known as City Hall.
Roberson, a former planning director for the city, probably is more familiar with city facilities and operations than Moultrie or Pitt.
The new council members have signed up for the Essentials of Municipal Government and Ethics Training session set for Jan. 13-14 in Wilmington. It is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of Government and the N.C. League of Municipalities.
The training session used to be called the School for Newly Elected Mayors and Council Members.
The session’s component on essentials of municipal government is designed to help elected officials understand the basics of municipal government and identify strategies to address the challenges in governing North Carolina’s municipalities, according to the School of Government’s Web site. Topics include making the transition from campaigning to governing, carrying out the responsibilities of an elected official, and understanding key elements of municipal law, finance, and administration. Instructors include School of Government faculty, League of Municipalities staff and local-government officials.
The ethics training is a requirement of newly elected government officials. The training is mandated by the state Legislature.
“I’m hoping to gain better knowledge of the city departments’ functions, how local government works and my role in making it benefit all people,” Moultrie said, in a brief interview, about the orientation session.
Moultrie said he believes that session and the training in Wilmington will provide him a “good foundation” as he begins his first term as an elected official.
“I wish we could have had the orientation before we were sworn in,” Moultrie said.
Pitt said he believes the Jan. 4 orientation session will provide him and other new council members a “better understanding of some of the departments.” Pitt said it’s important that new council members better understand what departments like public works do so they “can better understand they challenges they face.”
Pitt also said he believes the session will provide him a “better understanding of public safety from the dollars standpoint.”
Roberson is looking forward to the orientation tour and training session.
“It’s a great opportunity for members of the new council to meet the city staff and find out what they do and how they do it,” Roberson said.
The orientation tour provides new council members an opportunity to learn more about city operations and facilities, he said.
Roberson signed up for the training session in Wilmington, but he’s not stopping there.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity to go to the Institute of Government for great education,” he said.
“I’m going to do the financial, too,” said Roberson about another Institute of Government training session on municipal government finances.
“I will be looking for innovative ways to reduce the tax burden and at the same time to deliver the services the city provides in an efficient manner,“ Roberson said