\r\nFYI—this is now open to any residents of Lowndes County, not\r\njust City of Valdosta. Please spread the word. It is a great way to\r\nlearn a LOT more about your local government.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\r\n \r\nHere’s\r\n\r\nthe application<\/a>.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nHere’s\r\nthe Valdosta PR of today,\r\n\r\nCity Offers 5th Annual Government 101 for Citizens<\/a>:\r\n \r\nFor Immediate Release\r\n \r\nValdosta and other local citizens who want an inside look at their\r\nlocal government are urged to sign up for the 5th annual Government\r\n101 Citizens Orientation Program, which begins April 7, 2014.\r\nApplications are being accepted by the City of Valdosta through the\r\nMarch 14 deadline.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nThe program will meet on six consecutive Mondays, from 5:30 to 8:30\r\np.m., and is designed to expose participants to the services of all\r\ncity departments according to the following itinerary:\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nApril 7 Introduction to Class\r\n \r\nCitizens may download the form at\r\n\r\nwww.valdostacity.com\/publicinformation<\/a>.\r\nAn application is also\r\navailable in the most recent issue of the CityBeat newsletter,\r\naccessible online. Completed applications should be returned to the\r\nPublic Information Office, Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 N. Lee\r\nStreet, Room 102, by the March 14 deadline.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nApplicants will undergo a background investigation as part of the\r\napplication process and must also complete a separate criminal\r\nhistory form that may be obtained upon submission of the completed\r\napplication. Citizens should be aware that a felony conviction or\r\nrecent serious misdemeanor conviction may result in an\r\napplicant’s exclusion from participation. Personal information\r\ngiven will be kept strictly confidential.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nA maximum of 25 people will be selected for the class from citizens\r\nwho submit a completed application by the deadline and pass the\r\nrequired backgroun d checks. If more than 25 people apply, the city\r\nwill give preference to the applications on a first-come,\r\nfirst-served basis.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nThe Government 101 Citizens Orientation Program is an initiative of\r\nthe Valdosta Mayor and City Council. For additional information,\r\ncitizens may call the Public Information Office at (229) 259-3548.\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n-end-\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\nSementha Mathews\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Received today, with this note. FYI—this is now open to any residents of Lowndes County, not just City of Valdosta. Please spread the word. It is a great way to learn a LOT more about your local government. Tim Carroll Councilman District 5 City of Valdosta Here’s the application.","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15,2,3,54],"tags":[944,8705,8701,8699,4622,8702,12,7,8700,6,8726],"class_list":["post-7336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-government","category-transparency","category-valdosta-city-council","tag-citizens","tag-education","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-government-101","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-transparency","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-1Uk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7338,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7336\/revisions\/7338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/GovtX101XApplicationX2014-small.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nTim Carroll\r\n
\r\nCouncilman District 5\r\n
\r\nCity of Valdosta\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n![](\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/GovtX101XApplicationX2014.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\n\r\n
\r\nJanuary 3, 2014\r\n
\r\nRelease #01-14-01\r\n
\r\nApril 14 Public Safety and Municipal Court\r\n
\r\nApril 21 Engineering, Public Works and Utilities\r\n
\r\nApril 28 Financial Administration, Industrial and Economic Develop ment\r\n
\r\nMay 5 Community Building and Neighborhood Development\r\n
\r\nMay 12 Facility Tour and Graduation\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nPublic Information Officer\r\n
\r\nCity of Valdosta\r\n
\r\nP.O. Box 1125\r\n
\r\nValdosta, GA 31603\r\n
\r\n(229) 259-3548\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n![](\"http:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/9nstjPZOzgM\/default.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\nThis is particularly useful since\r\nLowndes County apparently gave up on its local government lunch and learn\r\nseries after the\r\n\r\n13 October 2011 “Your Top 50 Answered” session<\/a>.\r\n