10/06/2009

THIS MONTH’S MEMO

During the financial/budget review on Monday, September 28, I stressed the need to monitor and control costs and I appreciate everything everyone is doing in that regard. Your efforts to control costs will be critical. In that discussion, I failed to stress the importance of continuing to maintain a strong relationship with our customers. It is very important that we maintain and enhance the relationship with our customers since serving them is the reason MTAS exists. At first glance these two statements, saving money and maintaining relationships would seem to be in conflict, but they are not. We can maintain and enhance relationship via email and the telephone if we keep one critical quality in place and that is a prompt response . That prompt response will negate most of the downside to not always being face to face with the customer. Cities aren’t traveling, so they will fully understand if we don’t travel as much as normal. Please keep this in mind as you adjust your operating procedures.

Update on New Initiatives and Programs:

Assignment of Finance Consultant Territory – We have been considering the creation of 6 finance and accounting consultant territories and have finally put that consideration into action. Letters have been sent to all cities alerting them to the name of the Finance and Accounting consultant that has been assigned to their city. The list of consultants and the cities in their respective territory are attached.

Open Houses – Although we have used numerous methods of alerting our customers about the open houses, please take a minute and remind your respective customers about the open houses and encourage them to stop in . The dates are (see note below for more detail):
October 9 Nashville
October 14 Jackson

Recruitments – Everything is going at full speed to fill the 3 positions we have advertised. Stimulus money is being used to fill these positions.

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. To assist in that effort, we are developing a short info piece that your cities can use to inform their employees about the website. It will be shipped when finished.

Newsletter – The latest edition of the MTAS Municipal E-Newsletter went out last week. 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.

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.

Teamwork:

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

1. A train the trainer session was conducted on September 29 and 30 in Nashville. Many MTAS consultants participated and the training staff did an excellent job with the session.
2. Congratulations to the Codes Team, Linda Winstead, Nancy Gibson, Doug Brown and Emily Keyser, who on their own, without a supervisor, developed the MTAS Codes Team mission, vision and values statements. This is impressive, as these statements are traditionally initiated or developed for organizations and teams at the managerial level. These statements came about as part of the Codes Team work with their team level professional development in August and September. Thanks to them for their commitment and hard work.

Mark Your Calendars:


1. Reminder that September 30 was 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.

Pay particular attention to the three criteria and complete a form at any time that you feel one or more apply to you.

2. Please save the following dates for an Open House to celebrate MTAS’s 60^th Anniversary. They are:

Friday, October 9 Nashville 2 to 4 pm TML Building corner room on street level.
Wednesday, October 14, Jackson 1 to 3 pm MTAS Jackson Offices front foyer

Consultants from the respective regions should plan to attend the Open House in your region.



Staff Birthdays for September:

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

Staff Birthdays for October:

October 1 – Brett Ward
October 25 – Tess Davis
October 28 – Sid Hemsley


Kudos:

MTAS staff for the following IPS Awards
Service Awards
Brenda Moss – 35 years
Pat Hardy – 20 years
Warren Nevad – 10 years
Kurt Frederick – 10 years
Ralph Cross – 10 years
Gary Jaeckel – 10 years

2009 Awards
Horizon Award – Leigh Lawson
Tom & Diane Ballard award – Sandy Selvage
Project of the Year – Certified Municipal Finance Officers Program – Dick Phebus, Kay Stegall, Ralph Cross, William Haston, Gail Cook, Al Major, Michelle, Buckner, Izetta Slade, Sharon Rollins
Vice Presidential Citation
Disaster Preparedness Tabletop Drill – Gary West
Solution Point Implementation – Sarah Holley
Five Franklin Awards – Josh Jones

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