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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/04/2001 - RESOLUTION 2001-117 SUPPORTING THE CITY OF CHARAC AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 30 DATE: September 4, 2001 10 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL FROM: John F. Fischbach SUBJECT: Resolution 2001-117 Supporting the City of Character Initiative. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Mayor Martinez has asked City Council to consider adopting the attached City of Character Resolution. The Cities of Character Initiative is a national grass roots effort to support government and community leaders who are committed to character development. A national organization, International Association of Character Cities(IACC),was formed to support that effort . Since its inception, over 100 cities have adopted the initiative. The Latimer County Commissioners will consider a similar resolution on September 4. The Poudre School District has adopted a School of Character resolution and supports the City's adoption of this resolution. RESOLUTION 2001-117 . OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS SUPPORTING THE CITY OF CHARACTER INITIATIVE WHEREAS, the people of Fort Collins recognize the importance of honorable character qualities based upon the moral standard established by our nation's founders and its legal system; and WHEREAS,we recognize the validity of the statement of Alexis de Tocqueville that"America is great because she is good. When American ceases to be good, she will cease to be "great"; and WHEREAS,we desire to build upon our heritage and make Fort Collins a place where families are strong, homes and streets are safe, education is effective, business is productive, neighbors care about one another, and citizens are free to make wise choices for their lives and families; and WHEREAS, we recognize that individuals are responsible for their actions and that daily decisions should be based upon objective moral standards which are the basis of universally recognized character qualities, including respect for others, honesty, truthfulness, diligence, civility, generosity, kindness, loyalty, and courage; and WHEREAS,lack of commitment and irresponsibility have resulted in an increasing number of family problems causing personal, social, and financial consequences to individual family members and to the City as a whole; and WHEREAS, there is a need for more positive role models among our young people to help prevent juvenile rebellion and delinquency; and WHEREAS,if people fail to demonstrate positive character qualities and make wrong choices, the health, safety and welfare of the citizens are endangered, resulting in a financial burden upon the taxpayers for the costs of law enforcement; and WHEREAS,many current societal problems will be alleviated when the citizens of Fort Collins live by positive and constructive character qualities which distinguish between right and wrong; and WHEREAS, teaching positive character qualities to juvenile delinquents has been shown to produce a change in behavior, reducing recidivism rates; and WHEREAS, our schools should be a safe atmosphere where character is exemplified, taught and strengthened, and where learning is encouraged; and WHEREAS,recognizing positive character qualities among employees has resulted in increased workplace morale, employee safety, and corporate profits; and WHEREAS, the emphasis of positive character qualities in every sector of society can only occur as individuals commit themselves to exemplifying character in their personal lives and inspiring other to do the same. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS that the City Council hereby pledges its commitment to character and encourages its citizens to do all in their power to become known as a City of Character by promoting character in our schools, businesses, homes, churches, city government, media, and community groups, and the City Council further hereby urges the leaders of each of these jurisdictions to do likewise. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held this 4th day of September, A.D. 2001. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk +� LEADERS CURRENT Volume 3,Number 2 Ocmber 2000 Spreading Cincinnati Votes t URRENT Character yy[OS " ities ' Around Character! Charader On Thursday, At a press conference on give"character advertisements"; September y,, September 27, Cincinnati radio and television stations run Big Flat residents of Worley, city leaders—along with busi- character PSAs; public school ARKANSAS Idaho, received the ness, faith,and community principals,teachers,and students Horace Dickerson.Mayor book Achieving leaders and the Character implement character; and the True Success. How Council of Greater Cincinnati police and fire departments to Build Character and Northern Kentucky— participate in a character con- Briarcliff ` as a Family as a ARKANSAS 1 officially launched the ference.Newspapers,television n:. gift from the city Character City initiative for stations, and a Web firm have Mel Harper,Mayor council. The Cincinnati, Ohio. already donated thousands of books were Ke s eskers at the conference dollars worth of publicity donated by the y p toward the character initiative. Crescent Springs Idaho Character included Cincinnati Mayor KENTUCKY Foundation, and a Charles Luken, Public Schools To visit their Web site, go to Claire.Slortconi.Mayor local basketball Superintendent Steve www.charactercincinnati.org. team distributed Adamowski, Character Council , ,, ;'z ,;, Aw ." Spokesperson Anthony Munoz V Elkhart them door-to-door. (NFL Hall of Fame member), INUTANA The reception of this and many others. David L.Miller Mayor book was excellent. Character in the community "[Residents] think will be promoted as billboards it's great,"Worley - Flippin Mayor Charlene ARKANSAS :Mary Jane Enyin.Mayor Waddell said. The Hunger of a Nation The nearby Character Character City of for Georgetown Rathdrum, Idaho, he Philippines not only has officials,correctional officers, SOUTn CAROLINA also plans to send Three official Character mayors,parents, and students. Lynn Wood Wilson,Mayor a letter to 1,300 Cities now but is also working The mayor of Tagaytay City has Tam of its residents, on a national level to use char- established a museum of char- g Hattiesbur inviting them to acter training to deal with the aster,where character qualities Mississippi redeem an enclosed graft and corruption taking are displayed with illustrations. J Ed Morgan,Mayor certificate for their place under their jurisdiction. He has also taken the initiative own copy of the This training will be given to to produce a"character comic book, which will thousands ofjudges, police book"and other booklets on Keene be available for character, which have been dis- TEXAS pickup from several `� I tributed to all 7,200 households Frank Peterson,Mayor local businesses. 11 �+� m 5- the city.(See illustrations at the left.) ...3 Later this year,Tagaytay City will be distributing the book Lakeview ��//������ Achieving True Success. How ARKANSAS JL`"�C r�-5=A to Build Character as u Family unrd rrayis.,tfa)nr 'dr�r� to all their residents. C7 Online Religion I Phil Anders...cter certainly can't hurt O1/27/Owysiwyg://7/http://www.cionline.com/stories/012701/rel andersoncol.shtml Let's take a quick look at each of them, and why they are important components of character development. Faith As our community places an even greater emphasis on faith than it already does, nearly everyone has a chance to grow and benefit. Religion has had an unfortunate history of causing divisions and some of the worst conflicts the world has ever seen. However, it also has produced some of the most noble and upright ideals, which, when properly practiced, have benefited entire civilizations. In many ways, faith is the foundation of all other character traits. Hope Hope is a trait that desperately needs a revival. It seems that hope is essential to us being able to carry on from one day to the next, believing that things will get better, both on individual and community levels. For hope to prosper and thrive, it needs to be planted in our faith. Once that is accomplished, hope can blossom and help our dreams take shape, as we dare to do great things we may never have thought possible. Love Finally, love shows the collective heart of a community. Time and again, Topekans have demonstrated their compassion, in both small and large ways, to the less fortunate and more needy members of our community. Love also has been expressed when citizens have rallied to give encouragement, monetary assistance and emotional support to someone who has gone through a particularly difficult time. It is one of the city's most outstanding attributes. Perhaps we can look at faith, hope and love from a new perspective over the coming months, seeing them not as things we need to do, but rather as ways we need to live. The key to Topeka truly becoming a City of Character doesn't depend upon which trait Is selected each month. It has to do with how the individuals who collectively make up this town choose to practice them on a daily basis, both in their homes and in their community. Phil Anderson can be reached at(785)295-1195 or panderson@cjonline.com. Forward Discuss � !!! mes this story this story a menage to a friend in a forum to the editor Copyright©2000 The Topeka Capital•JournailCJ Online All rights reserved Car • a • • ` �=- Ach000! R , 2 of 3 8115,01 1 1:30 AM Practicing Excitement in Tuscaloosa Character nthusiasm for the character initiative in Tuscaloosa, Mountain Home Internationally Alabama, increased on ARKANSAS A Character City in Mexico has I. September 20, as Dr. Lam Joe Dillard.,ftnrnr expressed a need for common t,. Guthrie, director of Character government equipment and First! curriculum develop- ment, resented practical was in which character can Ponca City supplies, such as street lamps P P Y OKLvtoaf 1 and school buses. If your city be implemented and encouraged in every sector of a Tom Leonard,Ma,or would be interested in showing community. Over 300 businessmen and government GENEROSITY to this city, contact leaders attended a morning meeting; at noon a meeting 77"� Matt Johnson at 630-323-4144 was held with more than 100 leaders from the faith Shipshewana �� for more information(salvage community. During another meeting,over 200 education INDIANA Roger Yoder, items are acceptable). leaders from both public and private schools became Town Council President excited about the possibility of using Character First! for their"adopt-a-school"program. Such cooperation Character would allow parents to access character training at work Summit Firsd® Update while children are taught the same qualities at school, ARKANSAS thus strengthening the family core. Mayor Al DuPont Mary Ellen Ra,%MaJror Character First!" Business is is to be commended for his excellent leadership and being used in over five hundred the local steering committee for their great enthusiasm businesses,and Character First!° in the character initiative. Tuscaloosa Education is now being used in ALABAMA sixteen different countries and his is nol a project dl DuPnnt,Mayor two thousand schools. For more ,is an ongoing process." information, call 405-235-8100 for CF! Business and 405-815- Wasilla 0001 for CF! Education. Character in Action ALASKA Sarah H.Palin,Mavor ()QZA� n the city of Yellville,Arkansas,character was put to He the people Ithe test when a complaint was made against the city for f arc virtuous they water damage that was supposedly caused by a backup Wilmington cannot be subdued; in a city water line.The city council at first ruled not to DELAwARE but when once reimburse the resident but then reversed their decision James H.Sills,Jr.Mayor they lose their virtue, they when Councilman Mike Kerwood reminded them, "Yellville is trying to be a City of Character."The council will be ready to surrender decided that although they were not legally responsible Yellville _ their liberties to the first to reimburse the resident for the damage, they would do ARKANSAS external or internal it this time as a demonstration of character.The June Junell Kirkwood,Mayor invader. . . . If virtue and 2000 Character Builders journal out of Bull Shoals, knowled e are diffused Arkansas, states in relation to the incident,"Character The above cities passed g is doing what's right because it's the right thing to do." Character City resolutions among the people, they will between January and July 2000. See the next issue of Leaders never be enslaved. This will 200 I Building Cities of Current for the increasing number of cities becoming be their great security-" Character Cities in 2000! Samuel Adams,Dowding rather Character Conference The next Building Cities of Character Conference is being planned for March 29-31,2001, in Flint, 1ACC Michigan, at the new Riverfrom Character Inn. J IN l'ER NAI'IONAt- Assoc IATI ON Further details will be sent to you.You can '`,1*j"I't'A'yTYI`bQ 5 01: CHARACTER Cl FIE preregister now by calling 630-323 4144. Box one Oak Brook.IL 60622-3001 Tel:6363234144 - Fax:636323-1271 tkt w xxharactercities.org If you would prefer to receive future issues of Leaders"Current by info@cnaraaercities.org e-mail,write to cutrent@chamtercities.org. CJ Online I Religion I Phil Anders...cter certainly can't hurt 01/27/Owysiwyg://7/http://www.cjonline.com/stories/012701/rel andersoncol.shtml Relign _ _ 'Getting Around Last modified at 8:54 p.m.on Friday,January 26,2001 News Phil Anderson : Character i Sports ce rta i n I y can't hurt Features __ B PHIL ANDERSON e apt a gums Market-place Topeka is about to become a City of Character, and lots of folks are getting excited. CJ Info 8 Help From corporate leaders to city officials to the man on the street, nearly everyone agrees that little harm can come from our community Web In-depth focusing on a specific character trait each month, then trying to P implement it in our daily lives. Attention will be given to the character trait in a coordinated, broad-based effort: from the law-enforcement community to the Breaking NEWS mayor's office to local schools to religious congregations. Even the media is getting in on the act, for crying out loud. updated @ t:zt p.m. NATO OKs Sendin Unit to Sure, there are a few cynics out there, and in this Macedonia t case they are saying the idea of focusing on a Smoking Ads Still in Kid character trait for a month sounds a little hokey-- Magazines that it ain't gonna work. New Louima Case Testimon xpecte But what harm can it possibly do? Diplomats vow to Stay in Whatever our vantage point may be, we can see Aio anistan room for improvement in lots of areas of our G-8 Incarceration Energized community. Freed American l.Ptru Anderson. We'd all like too see Topeka become a friendlier ® Ilrtthtiam Uni6efiiry contain city, a safer city, a more caring city. To a large degree, we can see evidence of these elements in our NO Archive O Classifieds town. But there is always room for improvement. O Stocks O Yellow Pages That's the starting point for the City of Character initiative. No one's O web O TV Programs trying to reinvent the wheel here,just to bring us all a little closer together. The program is designed to cross cultural, religious and political lines FreeMall @Topi3ka:net and give us all something we can agree on, which, when you stop and think of it, would seem miraculous in its own right. Sign up now for your FREE For all the amazing advancements we have witnessed over the past web-based e-mail account. few decades, our society seems to have become splintered in many username ways. We have lots of work ahead of us on a multitude of fronts. Password I haven't seen the list of character traits that will be entertained by our community over the coming few months. However, if I may, I would like to toss three possibilities into the ring for consideration. LOGIN FCIIIIEATIEACCOUNT The three I'd like to suggest are faith, hope and love. They are hardly original to me, I know, but certainly seem well worth considering. I of 3 8/15/01 1 1:30 ANI IACC»Meet IACC wysiwyt;://I 1/http:/�www.charactercities.com meet.asp home Meet IACC CharacterCities . org Who We Are and What We Do ti Character Cities The International Association of Character Cities Character Families (IACC) is an organization dedicated to supporting 2001 Conference: government and community leaders who are Leuaiets Curre;a committed to character development—in themselves, Rexxtrce, their families, and their communities. Dttttnlcladl IACC provides training, contacts, counsel, and }1eci IACC resources to Character City leaders and is a division of Punct Contact Os the Character Training Institute, Inc. (CTI), a Horne non-profit, tax-exempt corporation based in Oklahoma TPath rdi showin City. CTI was developed largely through the efforts of others b i Search Go Tom Hill of Kimrav, Inc. right thl right tl E-mail this caoe IACC was born through a vision to support I will... to a friend government leaders such as Mayor Tom Ed McHugh of Be at th Baton Rouge who was the first to implement city-wide at the ri character development in his city. At an international Prepare Pe conference for mayors and government leaders held in Do my 1998, Baton Rouge officials shared practical steps time_ , about how they were implementing this "Character Plan a d City" initiative. As a result, the decision was made to and kee form an organization dedicated to helping other cities Not fall i follow their example. There are now over 100 cities of"just that have stepped out to pursue this goal. Too of Page © 2001 Character Training Institute I of 1 8/I5/01 11:31 AM