Mayor’s Assistant Jeff Downes '85 Speaks to Senior Economics Class

Mr. Jeff Downes, Executive Assistant to Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright and Montgomery Catholic 1985 Alumni, recently spoke to Coach Joe Arban’s senior Economics classes about opportunity costs and their effect on city budgets and the bottom line. Mr. Downes gave a variety of real examples the capital city faces when considering opportunity costs and the annual budget. Students gained a better understanding of how municipal budgeting, city services, and the costs that affect those services many take for granted each day.

Given an imaginary number and a variety of city services and budget requests, the students had to review the opportunity costs of providing for those requests and services while staying within a set budget. Senior Whitney Barranco said, “I didn’t realize how difficult the decisions for opportunity costs and their affects really were until we had to do it for ourselves. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. It really brought it all into perspective.”

Pictured: MC Alumni Jeff Downes ’85 speaks to seniors about opportunity costs at Montgomery Catholic.