Provology 101 - Mayor's Office

Provology 101, a series of classes that give a behind-the-scenes look at how Provo City runs, has given City departments the chance to show and tell about what they do for Provo. One of the participants, Anona Sobczak, has been sharing her experiences on Facebook and gave us permission to share them with you.

October 28, 2015

The words "happy" and "office" don't often go together, but our class facilitator, Karen Ellingson, called the mayor's office "The happiest office I have ever spent time in." I believe her: the mayor's optimism is contagious and has spread throughout the city and led to a better working relationship between the mayor's office and the city council.

Just to brush up on our city government, Mayor Curtis is like the CEO/President of the city. He doesn't vote in council meetings, but sits in on them and can give advice and council. The Municipal Council, commonly known as the City Council, makes the laws but doesn't oversee city operations like the mayor's office does.

It sounds like the mayor goes to a lot of meetings and does a lot of ceremonial duties. Did you know he can issue proclamations? I don't really know what that means, but I can totally see Mayor Curtis standing on the top of the city center steps shouting, "Hear Ye, Hear Ye" and proclaiming something awesome.

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