Two-Day Independence City Council Retreat Attendance

The retreat was not simply two days spent in a meeting room. It gave Leigh prolonged access to the part of municipal government citizens rarely see in a five-minute public-comment window: elected officials and senior staff talking through finances, one-time money, departmental pressures, dangerous and vacant buildings, redevelopment, neighborhoods, homelessness, priorities and what individual Council members hoped to accomplish. She listened, took notes, identified statements worth preserving and used those observations as leads for later records research.

During the May 19, 2026 financial-retreat discussion, one-time funding and upstream investment were discussed, including a reference to approximately $400,000 previously set aside for dangerous buildings. Councilmember John Perkins also made a contemporaneous statement about homelessness/shelter work as a post-Council focus. Leigh preserved those comments instead of treating them as disposable meeting chatter, and later compared them with new City discussions and proposals when they became relevant.

The experience changed the way she evaluates Council work. A final agenda packet or vote can show what government decided; the retreat showed how priorities are framed, which questions staff are asked, where assumptions enter the process and how earlier conversations can shape later choices. That is why this record belongs in a qualifications file as substantive government observation and follow-through, not as an attendance certificate.