About a half-dozen Powell residents recently got an in-depth look at how the city operates, and came away impressed.

The City of Powell recently wrapped up its second-ever Citizen’s Academy, a multi-week program that allows residents to learn about the city’s inner workings — from the police station to the garbage transfer station.

With five attendees, the academy had about half the participation of the inaugural program in 2023, but city officials say the group was engaged and asked good questions.

City Administrator Zack Thorington said the program has created “ambassadors for the city.”

“… we’ve had a few people change their perspective about what the city does once they’ve been educated,” Mayor John Wetzel said at a Nov. 17 council meeting that doubled as the attendees’ graduation ceremony. “And I hope you guys have learned that same thing, and will take that message out there.”

The recent attendees said they will recommend the program to others.

“It was a great introduction to the city, the people that are running it,” said Boone Birdsell, who moved to Powell in April.

Longtime resident Emily Denney said she, too, learned a lot.

“In fact, I really didn’t want it to end,” she said.

Fellow attendee Adrian Arismendi added that he was “blown away” by the enthusiasm that the city’s department heads and staff showed for their jobs; Thorington said the staff also appreciated the interest from the attendees.

Wetzel said he launched the academy “so that people would get involved with the city, that would sit on boards, run for council, heck, run for mayor, whatever.”

Earlier in the meeting, the council appointed one of the program’s 2023 graduates, David Bryan, to the city’s planning and zoning commission. Bryan will replace Myron Heny, who resigned from the volunteer board in protest of the city’s recent switch to at-will employment.