Departments of Greenwood Village

As part of my further study of city government, I was invited to tour and talk to the different departments of Greenwood Village. I was lucky to have Rachelle Bruno, the Executive Assistant in the City Manager’s Office, help me meet with each department.  She organized such a wonderful day for me which included visiting the City Manager Office, Community Development Department, Police Department, Public Works, and the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Department. In each department, I spent roughly an hour learning about what an average day looks like for each city leader.

Discovering all of the hidden challenges in city government that most citizens don’t take into account was very informative for me. Most citizens walk around just enjoying the benefits of a well-kept city, for example, no potholes and beautifully kept green belts and parks, without really considering what it takes to maintain a great city. I learned about the behind-the-scenes work including the budgeting of the city controlled by the City Manager to the number of pothole calls and complaints from Jeremy, the Public Works Director. The most frustrating thing to learn about was from Joe Bradley, the Commander in the Police Department.  He shared the challenges he’s faced since COVID and the summer 2020 riots regarding police brutality. Hiring has been difficult and a lot of the good police officers have left. It’s sad to hear that such an important department of the City has to get so much disrespect from the citizens they are hired to protect.

I would like to thank our city leaders for the time they spent with me and the hard work they do to keep our community beautiful and safe, and for attracting great businesses to our town.