After skipping a year due to low turnout, the Snoqualmie Citizens Academy returned in full force this year with 24 students graduating from the seven-week course on the operations of the city of Snoqualmie.

On Oct. 24, Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson recognized the graduates of the 2016 Citizens Academy program at the city council meeting.

Jodi Warren, Snoqualmie City Clerk and organizer of the Citizens Academy, said the idea for the program began due to a citizen survey that revealed some misunderstandings of how the local government was operated.

“About 10 years ago we conducted a city survey and it became very obvious from the results of the survey that our citizens were under the assumption that the city also controlled the school district and they did not understand the finance mandates that cities are under,” Warren said.

Warren looked into other citizen academy programs but found that they primarily focused on police operation. With the support of Mayor Matt Larson and City Administrator Bob Larson, she put together an academy program that covered a wide range of city related topics.

The program is broken up into seven sessions that cover history, parking lots, street and wastewater management, the authority of cities and the separation of Mayor and council powers, city revenue and property taxes, police, community development and planning, and the fire department.

Warren said that the first Citizens Academy in 2007 energized the staff and got them interested in explaining what they do and how they do it.

“The excitement by the participants of that first academy really energized the staff, and they view it as an opportunity to show what they do,” she said. “They are proud of the facilities that the city is fortunate enough to provide our citizens.”

Since 2007, the Citizens Academy has operated every year from September to October with the exception of 2015 when turnout was too low and the program was canceled. This year’s program had 24 participants, and 15 of those students had perfect attendance.

Warren said the participants ranged from high school students to retired citizens and they were a great group to work with.

“They were very attentive they asked a lot of questions, and they were just an awesome group of citizens,” she said.

Warren also said she saw the citizen’s gain a new appreciation for how local governments are run. In a post-graduation questionnaire, participant Sam Insalaco said the program gave him a deeper understanding of the limitations behind local governments.

“Not so easy to criticize our city government after one learns about the dedication, resourcefulness and limitation of our city government,” Insalaco wrote.