Lacey Community Academy graduates second cohort 

The City of Lacey marked another milestone in its push to make local government more accessible to the public with the graduation of 15 community members from its Community Academy this spring. 

The city honored the academy's second cohort during a recognition ceremony at a meeting of the Lacey City Council on Tuesday, June 16. 

Lacey Communications Specialist Jenny Bauersfeld presented certificates and walked council members through the program's highlights at the meeting. 

The academy, now in its second year, is open to anyone 18 or older living in Lacey or its Urban Growth Area at no cost. Thursday evening sessions ran from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with participants learning about a different department or area of city government each week. 

The program opened with a Lacey 101 session introducing participants to city government. It also included a mock council exercise, in which participants worked through a live agenda and resolved a split vote, giving them a look at how municipal policy is developed. 

A public works session followed, starting with a Lacey City Hall presentation before the group traveled to the Hawks Prairie water treatment facility. 

"A brave group climbed many, many stairs," said Bauersfeld to council members. "It was a lot, up to the top of the water tower, with beautiful sunset views. I think that was definitely a highlight." 

Subsequent sessions brought participants to Woodland Creek Community Park and the community center on site, where attendees received disc golf frisbees. 

A community and economic development session concluded with a visit to the Lacey MakerSpace, a city-supported facility open to the public.

Bauersfeld said many participants had not known about the resource before the visit. Graduates also received MakerSpace engraved coasters. 

Finance staff devoted two hours to the city budget and tax system the following week. 

"Finance can sometimes be a tough subject to talk about for two hours, budgets and taxes," said Bauersfeld, "but Finance Director Troy Woo and Deputy Finance Director Chelsea Knight did a phenomenal job finding engaging ways to explain everything that goes into the working city budget." 

A law enforcement session featured a presentation by Lacey Police Department Chief Robert Almada and a live demonstration of a new taser the department plans to introduce. 

The final session was new this year, pairing participants with city council members for questions and discussion.  

Bauersfeld thanked council members for their time, adding attendees took advantage of the opportunity to ask “a lot of good hard questions.”