Who? What? Why?!

Who is the City of Casa Grande? Casa Grande, Arizona is a a rural city just less than half way between the Phoenix metropolitan area and Tuscon. It's population is roughly around 52,000 people and growing at an annual rate of 7.5% annually.

What is the City of Casa Grande? Casa Grande is a Manager-Council city with City Manager, Jim Thompson. The Council includes Mayor Bob Jackson, Mayor Pro Tempore Lisa Fitzgibbons, and Council Members Dick Powell, Mary  Kortsen, Karl Montoya, Matt Herman, and Ralph Valera. The various departments that service the public are the City Manager's office, the City Attorney, the City Clerk, City Magistrate, Community Services, the Finance Department, Public Safety (including Police and Fire), Planning and Development, and lastly, Public Works.

My direct supervisor was Ben Bitter, Management Analyst and an alumni of the MPA program and the Alliance for Innovation Marvin Andrews Program. I was able to do quite a few exciting assignments for the management analyst who tripled as the economic development manager and the airport manager, Richard Wilkie. (There will be quite a bit of airport chatter in the upcoming posts, it was a fascinating project!)

Why the City of Casa Grande? During my interview they explained a few of the projects they had in mind if I were to begin the internship with the City. They included a project for the airport in gaining Through-The-Fence Access from the FAA and assistance with Economic Development through preparing for RECon 2013, in addition to any other projects that may arise. The City offered an opportunity to experience what the City Manager's office not only does for the City on a daily basis, but personal growth by participating in projects fully. I wouldn't just be sitting observing, although I was able to sit in and observe many great meetings. I was going to be actively participating in the work of the City for the citizens of Casa Grande. Additionally, I was going to get a great breadth of experience with the various departments the City operates. Although I had previously worked with the Scottsdale Police for over two years and was provided with great depth into that field, it wasn't an overall look at municipal governments. This opportunity provided that with the flexibility of maintaining a full time class schedule.