Orientation prepares council candidates

Serving on the Columbia City Council is “the ultimate city-volunteer job,” according to City Manager Bill Watkins. It’s also one that requires a lot of learning as you go.

To better prepare this year’s candidates, the city manager’s office held its first-ever council candidate orientation Saturday morning at City Hall.

“The purpose of the orientation was to let council candidates get a general idea of what is expected of them if elected and to familiarize them with city staff, city resources and information resources,” said Toni Messina, the director of communications for the office. “Anything that enhances their understanding helps them and will help the people they represent.”

Fourth Ward candidate Mike Holden said the orientation was a useful addition to the election process.

“When I ran in ’97, all I got was a letter from the city manager and a copy of the budget,” he said.

Each candidate still received a copy of the annual budget as well as a comprehensive overview of the budget formats, upcoming projects and organizational structure of several city departments, including Public Works and Human Resources. Department heads led presentations to provide candidates with information on basic city processes.

“We are not here to discuss why those processes are here or their validity,” Watkins said.

Fourth Ward candidate Jerry Wade said the orientation will allow newly elected council members to become “much more effective much quicker.” Without an orientation, candidates would have to research issues for themselves on the city’s Web site and at council meetings.

Sixth Ward Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe called the orientation a “good review.”

“I sat in to see if there was anything valuable that I haven’t learned up to this point, ” Hoppe said. She said the presentation on council procedures was helpful as it shed light on how old business is defined from new business.

“It was really good just to see what is coming up,” she said.