08/28/2009

THIS MONTH’S MEMO

I wanted to start this Update by remembering A.C. Lock. Most of you never met A.C. and that is your misfortune. He served MTAS and Tennessee cities for many years and was a superb consultant. He knew the subject of public works and strove to increase the capability of cities in the areas of street and sanitation. He and Frank Kirk were instrumental in the creation of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Public Works Association to the extent the Chapter annually issues two awards respectively in honor of each. MTAS is fortunate to have A.C., as part of our 60 year history and I am personally fortunate to have worked with and known A.C. Lock. We will miss him.

Update on New Initiatives and Programs:

Hirings and/or promotions – As noted in an earlier email Gary Petree has been named the new Training Program Manager for MTAS.

Website – Again I would encourage you to visit our website. If there are items that should be on the website, please contact Frances with your suggestions. Encourage cities to use the website.

Newsletter – The latest edition of the MTAS Municipal E-Newsletter is going out today. Just a reminder to be on the lookout for innovations and report them to Frances. It may be a small item or something huge, in either case it can be very beneficial to other cities, but they have to know about it and that is our job. As always, as you interact with your customers, ask them if they are getting the newsletter and if so are they reading it. If they are not getting it, let us know and we will add them to the list. If they are not reading it, encourage them to do so.

Municipal Managers Internship Endowment – Within the Newsletter is a short article regarding the retirement of Don Thornton and the opportunity to honor Don by giving to this endowment. The article contains links to the gift form and the explanation of the endowment as posted on the Website. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on this.

Events Calendar - Remember to check the Events Calendar and post upcoming events, if they are not posted. If you need assistance, please check with Lisa, Justin, Frances or Becky.

Job Postings – As noted in the last update, we are advertising to fill the positions of management consultant, training consultant and legal consultant. All three positions will be based in Knoxville. In addition we have just begun advertising to fill Gary Petree’s training consultant position. This position can be based in either Knoxville or Nashville. Please check our website. I would appreciate you encouraging people, that you would recommend, to apply .

Supervisor’s Survey – Thanks to all of you who responded to our request to complete the supervisors survey. We may have reached 100%.

IAFC and Mutual Aid - The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has asked Gary West to attend the Fire Rescue International Conference in Dallas, Texas at the end of August and speak on Tennessee’s state-wide mutual aid program and about how MTAS assists cities and how our mutual aid program has come so far with the assistance of MTAS. The IAFC is covering all expenses and is offering Gary access to attend the entire conference. This is a great honor and opportunity for Gary and MTAS.

IPMA - Richard Stokes has been invited to represent the International Personnel Managers Association (IPMA) at the Institute of Municipal Personnel Practitioners of Southern African Conference in Mmbatha, South Africa. IPMA-HR will cover the cost of airfare and incidentals. IMP-SA will provide hotel accommodations and ground transportation. As part of the program, Richard will be sharing his experiences regarding employee wellness and wellness trends in the U.S.

Just a reminder that payroll goes green – You are aware that effective August 1, 2009, pay stubs will be on line and you will need to print it if you want a hard copy. They will no longer be distributed by mail. Justin and Lisa have put together a full explanation of the issue, especially as it pertains to your NETID and password to access your information. A copy is in the policy and procedures database. Please contact Justin if you have questions.

Teamwork:

Examples of teamwork. If I missed an example you think should be noted, please let me know.

1. Compliments again to the finance and training consultants in working to deliver the CMFO program.

Mark Your Calendars:


1. On Tuesday, September 8, at 10:30 am EST, we will have a short agency conference call to discuss our finalized budget for this year and our overall financial condition. This is not mandatory, but I would like for you to participate if possible. Please let Armintha know where to reach you, if you are not going to be in your office.

2. As noted in the last update, save September 9, Knoxville and September 10 Nashville for the IPS Annual Event. If you haven’t registered, please do so.3.

3. Reminder that September 30 is the deadline for completing conflict of interest forms and submitting them to your supervisor. You must complete a new form even if you completed one for the same interest last year provided it meets the following criteria:

An interest must be disclosed if it:
1. exists at the time of this filing;

2. existed during the previous twelve months; or

3. you expect to acquire a conflict during the next twelve months.

4. Please save the following dates for an Open House to celebrate MTAS’s 60^th Anniversary. They are:
Friday, October 2, Knoxville.
Friday, October 9 Nashville area TML Building corner room on street level.
Wednesday, October 14, Jackson Note the change from last month’s update
We will let you know the time and location on each of these as we get closer to the day. Consultants from the respective regions should plan to attend the Open House in your region.

5. A train the trainer session is scheduled for September 29 and 30 in Nashville. If you facilitate any of our training courses, I would encourage you to
consider this opportunity to improve your facilitation skills. More information will be made available as we get closer to the dates.

Staff Birthdays for August:

August 6 – Richard Stokes
August 9 – Dick Phebus
August 23 – Josh Jones


Staff Birthdays for September:

September 2 – Mike Tallent
September 19 – Warren Nevad
September 20 – Dale Wolfe
September 23 – Lisa Shipley

Kudos:

- To John Chlarson, he is back at work. Welcome back John.

- To Sarah Holley for her work on SolutionPoint. This is our new management system for training programs and continuing education transcripts. What was thought would be easy has not been and Sarah has done a super job representing MTAS and working with other agency representatives in making this a workable program. Thanks Sarah.

Please email me Kudos suggestions and I will make an effort to include them in future staff updates.

As always, thanks for all you do for MTAS and Tennessee cities.

Mike