03/03/2017

· ICMA, an organization that a bunch of other current / past city managers and I belong to, publishes some really good newsletter and blog type information. Lately, I’ve seen the term “upstander” used in some of their articles where leadership is the general theme and “bystanders” are discussed. That term may have been around for a long time, but it’s new to me…and one that I find interesting when I google it and read the various definitions. Any thoughts?

· Historically in MTAS, March 1 ^st has been a popular day for staff to come aboard…
o Al Major did so in 1986.
o Pat Hardy did so in 1989.
o David Angerer did so in 2001.
o Kay Stegall did so in 2008.
Thank each of you for your contribution to this 84 combined years of service to our town and city customers and the rest of MTAS. Congratulations!

· On Tuesday, March 28 ^th , IPS will have an opportunity to attend the UT Board of Trustees meeting at UT Chattanooga and describe who we are and what we do. Dr. Millhorn and Herb will provide some introductory comments and Don and I will get to talk (for a few minutes) about LEIC and MTAS. I’m looking forward to this chance to showcase what we do and let others see how we impact all of Tennessee.

· About the proposed legislation to include CTAS and MTAS specifically for sunset review in 2019…it’s been a quiet week regarding this. Not a whole lot of conversation. Neither bill was scheduled for discussion this week nor next week in either the house or senate government operations committees. We’ll keep you advised if and when anything new comes up.

· While all of us probably have not had an opportunity to meet or work with Jay West, a few of us have, particularly those in the Nashville office, where Jay most recently served as executive director of the County Officials Association of Tennessee. In that role, he served on the CTAS advisory board. Jay was also a previous vice mayor of Metro Nashville and Davidson County. I knew Jay for many years and always respected him as a champion for good local government. Jay died this week on Wednesday and he will be greatly missed.

· Michelle Buckner will celebrate her 39 ^th birthday next Wednesday, March 8 ^th . Happy birthday, Michelle! Hope it’s a great day for you.

· Lastly, remember a few things…
o What each of you do every day for our customers and each other is recognized and appreciated. Really! It is!
o “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

· A comfortable weekend for everybody!

Jim Thomas, Executive Director


(O) 615. 532.4950 (C) 615.972.9219

jim.thomas@tennessee.edu

www.mtas.tennessee.edu