HICKORY - Do you want to learn more about your local government? Do you want to tour a fire station? Do you want to learn about how the city is organized and about its history?  Do you want to learn about the police department and its innovative approaches to community policing? Do you want the inside scoop on the programs and facilities offered by the parks and recreation department and the public library? 

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you will want to apply for the City of Hickory Neighborhood College class.

Neighborhood College is a series of professionally led sessions designed to teach citizens about the City of Hickory and the services it provides.  The class is an educational experience that will give participants insight into how the city operates on a day to day basis, as well as how it plans for the future. 

This will be the city's 12^th class, and in the past 11 years more than 230 citizens have graduated from the course and many of the graduates are now leaders in their neighborhood and/or business organization or are on one of the city's boards and commissions. 

All classes meet between 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at city facilities on Monday nights between September 13 - November 15.  Graduation will be held on November 16 in conjunction with the Hickory City Council meeting.

Some topics that will be discussed during the course include:

·                                                                     History of Hickory

·                                                                     City Administration

·                                                                     Budget and finance

·                                                                     Planning for the Future

·                                                                     Hickory Regional Airport

·                                                                     Public Services - Environment and Infrastructure

·                                                                     Public Safety - Police and Fire

·                                                                     Parks and Recreation

·                                                                     Library Services and Programs

"Neighborhood College is a wonderful opportunity for Hickory citizens to learn the nuts of bolts of how the city operates on a day to day basis," said City of Hickory Communications Director Mandy Pitts. "The past classes have been a big success and I predict that this year will be even better.  A number of Neighborhood College graduates became so interested in the city that they are now serving on city boards and commissions," Pitts added.  

The deadline to apply is August 30, 2010.  Applications are online at www.hickorygov.com under Office of Communications or call Communications Director Mandy Pitts at 261-2222 or email mpitts@ci.hickory.nc.us.

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