In order to gain a greater understanding of how city legislation is passed and maintained, Civics teachers Jordana Siebert and Robert Foshee took their classes to City Hall, located in downtown Fresno, Nov. 17. The trip featured a general overview of City Hall, ranging from its construction to fun facts about the building.
Once the students arrived, they were greeted by a tour guide who revealed interesting details about Fresno’s city flag and the construction of City Hall. Some students may not have been as interested as others, but junior Jordan Boudreau questioned the tour guide about the sum of the building’s construction.
After this, the tour continued onto the first floor, where students were able to learn about the artwork present in City Hall. Every week, the city art committee reselects new pieces to hang on the walls, which range from different types of media to varying artists.
Following the first floor, students went up to the third floor, where the tour guide explained the purpose of the building’s George Washington gallery. This exhibit consists of numerous portraits from throughout Washington’s life and an oversized bust statue of the president.
Although the art created an intriguing atmosphere, senior Cooper Belmont found it unexpected.
“I did not expect the art and it was kind of confusing to me,” Belmont said. “I didn’t understand it and I did not really get what the point of it was.”
Once the tour was complete, students were able to sit in on a City Council meeting. The agenda consisted of many topics, but the highlight was to amend the law about concealed weapons, which, if passed, would allow citizens in Fresno County the ability to acquire a permit. This presentation was given by City Council President Lee Brand who was followed by Fresno Chief of Police Jerry Dyer. Both voiced their opinion on the topic.
Once the two had presented their points, the floor was open to the public. After hearing a few others talk, senior Trevor York went up to the podium, stating how he agreed with the proposal.
“I figured I should go up and speak because it was a cool experience being there where they make laws and pass legislation,” York said. “I was also interested in gun rights and gun licenses, so I figured it was a great place to talk about my opinion. Since everyone has the right to talk, I thought this was my chance to say my opinion.”
Before students were able to hear this address, they had to listen to four other presentations. During these discussions, students started to loose interest, but perked up once the topic of concealed weapons came up.
“At the end, when they started talking about the whole guns thing that was interesting because it relates to us and it’s something that we are interested in,” junior Ashlyn Key said. “It was kind of boring at the beginning of the meeting; it is something that I definitely would not want to do in free time.”
Overall, students seemed to be interested in the City Council tour and meeting.
“I think it was cool to have a tour of City Hall and see all of the different paintings on the wall by featured artists,” senior Morgan Childs said. “And it was really cool to go into the City Council meeting and to see how interested Foshee was in it. Overall, it was a pretty good trip and I learned that they let the public speak their opinion.”
For more information about Civics, read the Oct. 28 article, Courthouse visit encourages civic learning, or the Nov. 17 article, Civics furthers education with City Hall tour.
