The Lookout

City Academy series to begin for area residents in April

Have you ever wanted to be better informed on how the city of Liberty Lake’s government works or how it impacts your home or business life? Have you wanted to know the services you receive as a resident within the city connect with other organizations? Or do you need to broaden what you know about city operations because you’ve thought about running for one of the city’s elected offices or applying for one of its commission openings?

This spring, the city of Liberty Lake is launching its first-ever City Academy, which will offer

Artists sought for Pavillion Park basketball court project

An upcoming arts project may require some rethinking of the term “points in the paint” for basketball players at Pavillion Park.

The Liberty Lake Parks and Arts Commission is seeking individual artists or artist teams to submit proposals for an outdoor floor mural that will be painted later this year on the two basketball courts at Pavillion Park.

Submissions for the Hooptown Mural Project were opened in late January and will close on March 17. The selected artist or group will receive a $16,000 stipend to create the work.

Full details about the project as well as information about submitting a proposal can be found on the city’s Parks & Arts Commission web page at www. libertylakewa.gov/433/Parksand-Arts-Commission.

citizens the opportunity to get a deep dive on how the city operates. Information at each session will come directly by topic experts from the city’s staff as well as leaders form local partnering organizations.

“A city academy is something some cities do to engage residents and provide more insights in how their local government works,” explains Liberty Lake City Administrator Mark McAvoy, who developed the upcoming local series. “It can also help encourage, inspire and inform potential future leaders of the city.”

Liberty Lake’s eight-part City

Academy series will begin on Thursday, April 13 and will continue for each Thursday through June 1. Each topicspecific session will begin at 7 p.m. at Liberty Lake’s City Hall (22710 E. Country Vista Drive) with the presentations lasting about 60 to 90 minutes each night.

Initial topics will cover such areas as:

• The city’s form of government and how it fits in with the structure of county and state government systems;

• Land use and zoning

• The city’s comprehensive plan

• How the city obtains revenue

• How budget-making decisions

March 2023

Are Made

Later sessions in the series are slated to include presentations focusing on services that Liberty Lake residents receive through the city’s partnerships with outside organizations, such as those involving fire response services, public utilities and public safety.

Dates for each topic in the City Academy will be posted on the city’s website and Facebook site. Interested participants can learn more about the City Academy and register to attend sessions by going to the “Our Community” section of the city’s website at www.libertylakewa. gov. Each week’s session will also be previewed on the city’s Facebook site.

hires, Liberty Lake Police Chief Damon Simmons said, “The addition of Officers LaRocco and Tuttle to our family marks a major milestone for our agency. We will have reached 20 sworn officers, having doubled in size in the last three years.”

Liberty Lake is seeking applicants for an adjunct (non-voting) position on the City Planning Commission. The term of this position will run through Dec. 31, 2024.

The City Planning Commission studies and makes recommendations to the mayor and the City Council for Liberty Lake’s future growth. For full details and application information for this opening, see the information posted here on the city’s website: https://www.libertylakewa.gov/ CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=712

LLPD welcomes two new officers

The Liberty Lake Police Department has its first two new members of 2023 with the arrivals of Officers Jordan Tuttle and Cody LaRocco, who were both sworn in for their new duties on Feb. 7.

In introducing the two new

Officer Tuttle, who previously served as a patrol deputy in the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, grew up in Liberty Lake after his family moved to the city when he was 4 years old. Tuttle wrote in his application letter that he has wanted to be in law enforcement since he was 6 years old.

Officer LaRocco was most recently a patrol deputy with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to that, he served for 11 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which included work as a robbery detective in the Palmdale Station Detective Bureau.