From Classroom to City Hall

Hello! My name is Bryan Price. I am a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, double-majoring in Political Science and Economics. This summer, I’ve had the pleasure of working in my hometown as an intern at City Hall.

Throughout this internship, I have had the opportunity to travel around with many of the City’s departments. I have traveled just about everywhere around the community learning about utilities like electricity, water, sanitation, and sewers. I’ve ridden along with our tremendous police officers, visited court with our City Attorney, and even planted trees with our outstanding Public Properties Department. I have been a part of meetings with the City Administrator, Mayor, and City Council regarding many wonderful things our community is working on. Even the most mundane tasks have taught me so much about Beatrice and city administration. The few short paragraphs below just scratch the surface of the many things during my time as an intern.

First and foremost, I’d like to give a shoutout to all the employees that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. Each of these employees (and I’ve worked with a lot of them) is motivated and takes pride in their work. They’ve shown me that there are many benefits to having a career with the City of Beatrice. I would highly encourage anyone wanting a good career to consider applying for a position with the City. The pay and benefits are great, and you get to work alongside some amazing people doing work that truly makes a difference.

Every project I got to work on and everything I learned, I looked at through two lenses: first as a student, and second as a resident. As a student, I have learned that experience is a far superior teacher than a textbook is. For example, a textbook will tell you how to communicate with others in a business setting, but actually seeing and doing it builds the necessary confidence and skills. I’ve learned many things at college, but the things I have learned from our City Administrator, department heads, and many of the great employees of those departments are, to me, more practical and memorable.

As a resident of Beatrice, I am proud to call this place home. The leadership our community has is amazing. Each one of our departments is full of knowledgeable and insightful people. Something that is nice about how our City is set up in comparison to other communities around us is the unity among our departments. If it’s borrowing a trailer or lending a hand with a project, our departments are great at completing tasks with diligence and efficiency, saving time, money, and resources.

Speaking of resources, our City has and takes advantage of a vast number of helpful tools and capabilities that other communities may not have. For example, the City is now using a new GIS (Geographic Information System) software. This allows employees to more quickly and easily find things like manholes, water mains, electric lines, and trees. This allows for better planning for City projects and residential inquiries. Our Water, Electric, and WPC Departments also have vacuum trucks. These trucks allow for cleaner and faster dirt work and jetting (high-pressure water spraying that cleans out things like sewer lines). These resources, in addition to many others, make the City several times more productive. A more productive and efficient city government leads to a better thriving community.

One final thing that I have observed is the city government’s relationship with our community. Many changes have been discussed recently in our City Council meetings. Before I started attending these meetings, I had little to no knowledge about what was going on in Beatrice. I began regularly attending these meetings and have learned so much. Another thing I’ve learned is that the minutes to these meetings are also posted, just in case you weren’t able to attend or have questions. These meetings and minutes are amazing ways for residents to be informed and stay engaged with their neighbors and leaders. 

I came to City Hall this summer uncertain if city administration was a career I would like to pursue after college. After spending some time with the City of Beatrice, I feel a lot more confident that this is what I want to do. Serving the public while also engaging in a variety of different tasks and projects is something I find rewarding and eventful. I am very thankful for my time as an intern and everyone who helped make it possible!