The Greater Pensacola Chamber is sharing this round up of local government meetings with members. An informed electorate is one of the signs of a healthy democracy, a strong quality of life and a government that reflects the community's values.

To help readers stay informed, here are the highlights, as the Chamber shared them, from meetings from Sept. 14-24:

Downtown Improvement Board Meeting

At the latest Downtown Improvement Board meeting, the board received the typical updates on issues ranging from Gallery Night to preparations for the holiday season. But a discussion also broke out over what the actual mission of the Downtown Improvement Board is and how the board should approach that mission. Executive Director Ron Butlin provided an update and stated that Gallery Nights are currently projected to be $5,000 short of breaking even for the year. Butlin is still working on securing additional sponsorships that would help close the projected shortfall. It was decided that Gallery Nights will continue on a monthly basis through the end of 2015, but the board will evaluate how many Gallery Nights will be scheduled for 2016. Read full article here.

The DIB next meets at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in the Rhodes Building at 41 N. Jefferson St., Pensacola. They also meet at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 6 in the Rhodes building.

Escambia County Commission Budget Meeting

The Escambia County Commission finalized their fiscal year 2015-16 budget with a great deal of conversation about the funding of outside agencies. As mentioned in the previous legislative update, the millage rates tentatively approved by the board on Sept. 8, 2015, are 6.6165 for the county-wide millage rate, .3590 for the Library Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU), and .6850 for the Sheriff's Law Enforcement Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU). The aggregate of these millage rates proposed for fiscal year 2015-16 is 2.26 percent above the "rolled back rate" certified by the property appraiser. This represents the percentage increase in property taxes tentatively adopted by the board. Read full article here.

Agendas for the commission meetings are available here. The next meeting is on Oct. 8 in commission chambers in the Ernie Lee Magaha Building, 221 Palafox Place.

Escambia County School Board Meeting

The Escambia County School Board passed their Student Progression Plan for the 2015-16 school year, which calls for fewer standardized tests. The number of required standardized tests has been a point of controversy with Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. Members of the school board are quite critical of the amount of time dedicated to testing. Despite the legislature passing a law this past spring allowing for a decrease in public school testing, the school board members still pointed the finger at the state for requiring the amount of testing students have to partake in each year. School board members said they hoped the public would let their local legislators know their opinions about testing so that the state might continue to decrease the amount of required testing. Read full article here.

Meeting agendas are available here. Pensacola City Council Budget Hearing

Following concerns expressed by some city council members that the city budget had not been thoroughly vetted, the council held a hearing to publicly discuss their issues with the proposed budget. Three of the council members (Wingate, Johnson and Spencer) did not attend the hearing. Most of the questions and comments came from Councilwoman Sherri Myers and Councilman Charles Bare. Councilwoman Myers spoke out against the way the city has managed the Tree Planting Fund. Myers stated that most of the trees removed by the city have come from her district and that the bulk of trees that have been reseeded or replanted were done in other parts of the city. Read full article here.

Pensacola City Council Meeting

The latest Pensacola City Council Meeting was a lengthy one with a number of hot-button issues. The council shuffled the agenda to put the most anticipated agenda items at the front of the line. The first item the council delved into was the proposed food truck ordinance. The city has been working on this issue for more than two years without agreeing on an ordinance or structure for food truck owners. The Planning Board has developed an ordinance with input from food truck owners, brick and mortar restaurant owners, DIB and other interested parties. Read full article here.

Pensacola City Council meets in agenda review and as the CRA at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5 at Pensacola City Hall, 222 W. Main St. The regular council meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8 at City Hall.