This was the final session of the leadership course that the City of Newton enabled me to attend. The focus of this session was diagnosing our 360 leadership assessment results. Prior to the beginning of the course we had to give them names and e-mail addresses of six persons. It was with the intent of assessing our leadership skills from our supervisors, those we supervise, and those we consider lateral to our positions. Well, I have been at the City (at this time) about two weeks and I don't supervise anyone. Consequently, I found the discussion to be a waste of time as my results were without basis. I could have listed my former boss at Geological Consultants, Inc. and my former assistant (who is now my husband's Administrative Assistant), but both would have given me really good marks as we are friends and they would want to make me look good. What I did take away from it was material to think about and consider in my dealings with others. At the end of this blog, I will list several of the areas we were to grade ourselves or others in. There were 4 categories that were on the evaluation: management of self; ability to diagnose situation; ability to intervene skillfully; and ability to energize others. Surprisingly, there was no mention of ethics as this is a topic that is brought up in every PAF course that I have taken. Although they asked for suggestions to improve the course, they did not seem to interested in adding ethics to the mix. Here are a few of the categories that we were asked to grade others and ourselves in:
* Actively listen to diverse points of view
* Ask open-ended questions of multiple people
* Ask for feedback on your conclusions or thinking
* Offer alternative ways to proceed
* Show awareness of the emotional state of others
* Remain calm and in control of emotions
* Seek to identify my strengths and weaknesses
In all there were 40 questions. Some of these questions dealt with internalized feelings that one might not show to others so therefore your observers might rate you much differently than you did yourself. I sat with the City Clerk who rated herself consistently lower than her observers rated her. My final assessment on this was that it gave me something to think about but was otherwise pretty useless.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Citizen Speaks at the City Commission Meeting ~ 2/28/12
Today was the first morning meeting for the City Commission. They have meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Recently it was decided to have the second meeting of the month held at 9:00 in the morning instead of the traditional 7:00 evening meeting.
An interesting and well-spoken local businessman (Jason-didn't catch his last name) spoke during the Citizen's Forum portion of the meeting. He urged the Commission to consider carefully before spending additional money on the Kansas Logistics Park. He cited historical attempts with similar goals that had not succeeded. He has residential rental properties and stated that his tenants don't really care about what the city does until it impacts their own pocketbooks. When property taxes and water rates are increased and he must pass that on to his renters, then they care. He feels the City has "given away the farm" because of the deals they have made with the New Millenium Wind Energy Corp and the Tindell Corp to entice them to come to Newton. He is concerned that once the freebies are used, they will either fail or move on to another area.
As we have heard on a national level, renewable energy companies are known to fail and this would leave the City will a tremendous burden. He said that when an individual makes an investment, it is only that individual who loses; but when the City Council makes a poor decision, it is the taxpayers who suffer. I have learned that leadership often involves taking risks after a due diligence study has been performed. There are a lot of uncertainities in the world today and one must remember that this is historically a very conservative community. Between the KLP, the new Meridian Conference Center, and improvements to the Newton Airport, the City has spent money but it has also positioned itself for the next economic upswing. Activities like this are what has kept Newton from suffering the same fate that has befallen other small communities in the Midwest.
An interesting and well-spoken local businessman (Jason-didn't catch his last name) spoke during the Citizen's Forum portion of the meeting. He urged the Commission to consider carefully before spending additional money on the Kansas Logistics Park. He cited historical attempts with similar goals that had not succeeded. He has residential rental properties and stated that his tenants don't really care about what the city does until it impacts their own pocketbooks. When property taxes and water rates are increased and he must pass that on to his renters, then they care. He feels the City has "given away the farm" because of the deals they have made with the New Millenium Wind Energy Corp and the Tindell Corp to entice them to come to Newton. He is concerned that once the freebies are used, they will either fail or move on to another area.
As we have heard on a national level, renewable energy companies are known to fail and this would leave the City will a tremendous burden. He said that when an individual makes an investment, it is only that individual who loses; but when the City Council makes a poor decision, it is the taxpayers who suffer. I have learned that leadership often involves taking risks after a due diligence study has been performed. There are a lot of uncertainities in the world today and one must remember that this is historically a very conservative community. Between the KLP, the new Meridian Conference Center, and improvements to the Newton Airport, the City has spent money but it has also positioned itself for the next economic upswing. Activities like this are what has kept Newton from suffering the same fate that has befallen other small communities in the Midwest.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Research, research, play a little, research some more....
Well this week has been spent on researching city fees at my internship....and then I have spent all weekend doing research for Dr White on the MS4s. I have been combining data from two large binders that were compiled when they first researched this about 5 years ago with data from two sheets from the State of Kansas. Once that was done, I looked up the websites of each of the municipalities are verified contact information and looked for Stormwater programs listed on their sites. I copied pertinent data to individual computer files for the 65 communities on my list.
Last night I did take a break and went to listen to some music at Karen's Korner. One of our friends was there playing last night. We (my sister and I) sat with his lady friend and had a fun time. I paid for taking that "break" as I was up until 5:00 this morning working on this research. I had planned to finish that yesterday and write a couple of literature reviews today, but no such luck. Well I just zipped the file and sent it off. Will be starting an on-line course this week (Session B) and gearing up for the Capstone starting on March 9th. I am finding it a stressful trying to keep up with everything...a student's bane.
As this is a small town, when I read the local newspaper, I know or have met many who are written about. For instance, the City Engineer was interviewed about modifications to one of the City's roads. Another article involved an interview with the County Nurse whom I have sat with at several functions. This internship has given me a different perspective on "my little town." It is nice to feel like you are really a part of the decision making process. Hope you all are enjoying your internships too..
Last night I did take a break and went to listen to some music at Karen's Korner. One of our friends was there playing last night. We (my sister and I) sat with his lady friend and had a fun time. I paid for taking that "break" as I was up until 5:00 this morning working on this research. I had planned to finish that yesterday and write a couple of literature reviews today, but no such luck. Well I just zipped the file and sent it off. Will be starting an on-line course this week (Session B) and gearing up for the Capstone starting on March 9th. I am finding it a stressful trying to keep up with everything...a student's bane.
As this is a small town, when I read the local newspaper, I know or have met many who are written about. For instance, the City Engineer was interviewed about modifications to one of the City's roads. Another article involved an interview with the County Nurse whom I have sat with at several functions. This internship has given me a different perspective on "my little town." It is nice to feel like you are really a part of the decision making process. Hope you all are enjoying your internships too..
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Husband Saves Five in the Desert
While I am doing this internship, my husband has remained in Arizona. Today, he and a couple of friends went for a day in the mountains. This is not unusual for them. They get an early start and drive up in his truck with his little Suzuki Samurai, a 4-wheel drive vehicle, on a trailer. Once there, they parked and embarked on an adventure. Today they went past Florence and were in the vicinity of Box Canyon. As they were exploring on some rather rugged jeep trails, they were hailed by a group of five who appeared to be stranded. The group consisted of two grandparents, a daughter-in-law, and two grandsons (about 7 years). The grandparents live in Arizona and the rest live in Iowa. They had become disoriented and had found the trail, but were going the wrong way on it. Not only that, but the trail was very rugged and it is doubtful that they would have been able to have made it back to their vehicle once they realized their error.
My husband's vehicle was built to carry four, not nine so it was very packed to say the least. The daughter-in-law told my husband that he had saved their lives...and I imagine that he did as the area they were in was quite remote and not well-traveled. Fortunately for them, this did not occur on a day when temperatures soared to over 100 degrees or the outcome might have been much different.
My husband's vehicle was built to carry four, not nine so it was very packed to say the least. The daughter-in-law told my husband that he had saved their lives...and I imagine that he did as the area they were in was quite remote and not well-traveled. Fortunately for them, this did not occur on a day when temperatures soared to over 100 degrees or the outcome might have been much different.
City Fee Assignment Including Traffic Violations
Much of my day today has been spent on researching and gathering information from various sources regarding the fees collected by the City. Lunda has given me the task of amassing this information from all of the various departments along with the last date it was updated. Then I am to gather information regarding fees collected by similar communities in the area. So far I have gotten fee information for building permits and contractors licensing from the City Engineers office. From the Municipal Court I have gotten a listing of all of the traffic citations and code violations along with those fees. That is a rather lengthy list that was last updated on July 1, 2010. This listing is rather interesting. I have determined that if you irritate the police, there is something on this list that they will be able to cite you for.
I thought I would list some of these examples for you.
* Turning on curve or grade - $75. Now, how would someone turn on a curve unless there was a road to turn onto?
* Fail to yield to a blind pedestrian - $60. Well, who is going to tell on you if the pedestrian is blind, he can't see you?
* Vehicle emerging from the alley - $75. How else are you supposed to get out the alley?
* Park adjacent to school or signs - $35. Your mother would have been cited for picking you up from school!
* TV screen visible to the driver - $45. what about GPS screens or backing screens?
* Unattended vehicle - $45. does that mean you can't park and get out of the car?
*Coasting - $45. I have a button on my cruise control for coasting.
* Driving over a fire hose - $45. Well, you shouldn't be driving that close to a fire.
* Driving on the sidewalk - $45. This is one that I actually did when I was in high school in this very town...and it was on Main Street. The statute of limitations has expired.
* Not riding on a bicycle seat - $45. Hmmm...does that mean you can not stand up to pump faster?
* Improper tires - $45. How is this determined?
* Wearing earphones or headsets - $25. Well, that covers most of ASU's students.
* Riding bicycle in the business district - $30. Isn't that a little petty?
You have to pay court costs of $80. in addition to the fines for violation except those for seat belts or parking tickets. These are just a few of the violations on the list. Almost all of them are justifiable and many of these, if taken in the proper context, are also.
I thought I would list some of these examples for you.
* Turning on curve or grade - $75. Now, how would someone turn on a curve unless there was a road to turn onto?
* Fail to yield to a blind pedestrian - $60. Well, who is going to tell on you if the pedestrian is blind, he can't see you?
* Vehicle emerging from the alley - $75. How else are you supposed to get out the alley?
* Park adjacent to school or signs - $35. Your mother would have been cited for picking you up from school!
* TV screen visible to the driver - $45. what about GPS screens or backing screens?
* Unattended vehicle - $45. does that mean you can't park and get out of the car?
*Coasting - $45. I have a button on my cruise control for coasting.
* Driving over a fire hose - $45. Well, you shouldn't be driving that close to a fire.
* Driving on the sidewalk - $45. This is one that I actually did when I was in high school in this very town...and it was on Main Street. The statute of limitations has expired.
* Not riding on a bicycle seat - $45. Hmmm...does that mean you can not stand up to pump faster?
* Improper tires - $45. How is this determined?
* Wearing earphones or headsets - $25. Well, that covers most of ASU's students.
* Riding bicycle in the business district - $30. Isn't that a little petty?
You have to pay court costs of $80. in addition to the fines for violation except those for seat belts or parking tickets. These are just a few of the violations on the list. Almost all of them are justifiable and many of these, if taken in the proper context, are also.
2013 Budget ~ Preliminary Information
The General Fund receives 74% of the property tax collected. The Budget for 2011 budgeted for $15.8 million and the actual expenditures amounted to $14.1 million. Therefore we will be beginning next year with a higher balance in the General Fund than we budgeted for, between $1.3 and $1.4 million. Management intends to keep the budget flat and there will be no mill levy increase on behalf of the city. Newton is similar to other cities in that the property tax bill includes taxes from several districts (schools, for one), the county, and the city. The plan is to focus on the core functions of the city. All of the cities have felt pressure from the State to take on additional responsibilities. (This is also what we heard in lectures in our MPA classes)
Areas of concern in this budget are the Sanitation Fees and the Sanitation Fund. In 2007, the sanitation services went out for bid and the City won the bid. Since that time, sanitation fees have not changed although services have been enhanced and there has been an increase in the cost of gas. As a result, this fund has been drawing down. The Sanitation Fund contributes to the General Fund which is meant to offset a lower property tax rate. Currently it is not performing as well as it needs to in order to accomplish this.
Domestic violence is another concern to the City fathers. Newton will apply to renew a grant for this program in 2013, but we will have to determine if this is a core function of the City. The city's cost this year was $125,000 and we need to consider this program's cost in its entirety, not just the city's portion. Currently this is partially funded by the county and grant funding.
The General Obligation Bonds (GO Bond) is lowered by the City by about $2.1 million per year.
There are two pieces of State legislation being considered that will have an impact on the local economy. HB2212 deals with existing property tax and proposes that as the valuation of property increases, the mill levy rate decreases. Newton's management team feels this can't be done. SB332 is the other one and it allows grocery stores to sell alcohol. If this is enacted, the City will lose revenue from licenses sold to liquor stores. The State has said that it will make up the difference to the cities, but that is doubtful past the first year from prior experience. The State is also proposing a Sales Tax Holiday during which the State will forgo charging its portion of the sales tax for over a holiday weekend.
There is proposal to change the current method of Publication from the newspapers to posting it online on Newton's website. This would result in a reduction of printing costs.
KPERS is the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System. The City is aware that both the employee and employers required contributions to the system will increase, but not until 2014.
I previously mentioned the last item - school finance. School districts will see pressures on their tax. In order to collect more sales tax, churches and the City may have to start paying sales tax. This could cause the City to raise the property tax by 1 mill to offset the additional expense.
These are the issues of concern going into the 2013 budgeting process. Thank you, Dr. Miller.
Areas of concern in this budget are the Sanitation Fees and the Sanitation Fund. In 2007, the sanitation services went out for bid and the City won the bid. Since that time, sanitation fees have not changed although services have been enhanced and there has been an increase in the cost of gas. As a result, this fund has been drawing down. The Sanitation Fund contributes to the General Fund which is meant to offset a lower property tax rate. Currently it is not performing as well as it needs to in order to accomplish this.
Domestic violence is another concern to the City fathers. Newton will apply to renew a grant for this program in 2013, but we will have to determine if this is a core function of the City. The city's cost this year was $125,000 and we need to consider this program's cost in its entirety, not just the city's portion. Currently this is partially funded by the county and grant funding.
The General Obligation Bonds (GO Bond) is lowered by the City by about $2.1 million per year.
There are two pieces of State legislation being considered that will have an impact on the local economy. HB2212 deals with existing property tax and proposes that as the valuation of property increases, the mill levy rate decreases. Newton's management team feels this can't be done. SB332 is the other one and it allows grocery stores to sell alcohol. If this is enacted, the City will lose revenue from licenses sold to liquor stores. The State has said that it will make up the difference to the cities, but that is doubtful past the first year from prior experience. The State is also proposing a Sales Tax Holiday during which the State will forgo charging its portion of the sales tax for over a holiday weekend.
There is proposal to change the current method of Publication from the newspapers to posting it online on Newton's website. This would result in a reduction of printing costs.
KPERS is the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System. The City is aware that both the employee and employers required contributions to the system will increase, but not until 2014.
I previously mentioned the last item - school finance. School districts will see pressures on their tax. In order to collect more sales tax, churches and the City may have to start paying sales tax. This could cause the City to raise the property tax by 1 mill to offset the additional expense.
These are the issues of concern going into the 2013 budgeting process. Thank you, Dr. Miller.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Newton's Insurance Renewal Meetings
Scheduling the City's insurance renewal meetings was one of my recent tasks. Assistant City Manager Lunda Asmani requested that I schedule insurance renewal meetings for all of the department heads for February 13th. This included supervisors and department heads from the fire department, the police department, the library, the parks department, the streets and sanitation department, the water plant, the wastewater plant, the Kansas Logistics Park, and the Meridian Center. Lunda wanted to meet with the insurance brokers for an hour before the rest of our entourage.
It was a benefit that I had been here for about a month as I knew whose schedule would already be pretty full even though this meeting was over a week away. I checked first with Suzanne Loomis, the City Engineer and Director of Public Works, as she is also the busiest person at City Hall. Lunda had originally thought we would start the meetings at 9:00 in the morning and allow 1/2 hour for each department. Well, Suzanne's schedule was already booked and would only be available from 3:00 to 4:30. So that was her slot. She arranged times for the Water & Wastewater Supervisor and for the Streets and Sanitation Supervisor. She is solely the representative for the Kansas Logistics Park which is under construction. I was able to schedule everyone rather compactly and assigned a time to the head librarian as she was on vacation. This would have to be changed later as she had other time committments. Things went rather smoothly until the Supervisor from the Airport came and I had not scheduled time for him. The insurance brokers appeared to be quite efficient and knowledgeable.
There was quite an uproar when this group was selected over local agencies which had always written the insurance before. It does seem that this will be a lot better for the city as there appeared to be holes in their prior coverage that could have been devastating to the City. Lunda and I met the brokers at Appleby's for a lunch meeting. Who should be at the adjacent table, but their former insurance agent!!
It was a benefit that I had been here for about a month as I knew whose schedule would already be pretty full even though this meeting was over a week away. I checked first with Suzanne Loomis, the City Engineer and Director of Public Works, as she is also the busiest person at City Hall. Lunda had originally thought we would start the meetings at 9:00 in the morning and allow 1/2 hour for each department. Well, Suzanne's schedule was already booked and would only be available from 3:00 to 4:30. So that was her slot. She arranged times for the Water & Wastewater Supervisor and for the Streets and Sanitation Supervisor. She is solely the representative for the Kansas Logistics Park which is under construction. I was able to schedule everyone rather compactly and assigned a time to the head librarian as she was on vacation. This would have to be changed later as she had other time committments. Things went rather smoothly until the Supervisor from the Airport came and I had not scheduled time for him. The insurance brokers appeared to be quite efficient and knowledgeable.
There was quite an uproar when this group was selected over local agencies which had always written the insurance before. It does seem that this will be a lot better for the city as there appeared to be holes in their prior coverage that could have been devastating to the City. Lunda and I met the brokers at Appleby's for a lunch meeting. Who should be at the adjacent table, but their former insurance agent!!
Thoughts about this and that
I have yet to work just a 20 hour week. This is my own doing as I will be flying back to Phoenix to do the Capstone in March and April. In addition to that my sister is coming from Australia for a visit and I have already gotten scolded for trying to make her fit into my schedule. I feel that I am behind in my research efforts for Dr. White at KU and will be working to catch that up later this week. She is a wonderful person and has been great about giving specific guidance...so I must not let her down. In addition to all of this I will begin an on-line course at ASU in Session B. I have felt compelled to work more than 20 hours each week as I will need to take time off to take care of those things mentioned above.
I would like to say that I am very much enjoying my internship. Another thing that happened on Valentine's Day was that Lunda scheduled a meeting for us with Randy Riggs, the City Manager, to discuss how my internship was going and to make sure I was getting out of it what I wanted and what was needed in order to satisfy ASU's requirements!! Now just how nice is that?!! I am thinking that when my internship is over, I will submit a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (The Newton Kansan - original, huh) thanking those at City Hall for giving me this wonderful experience and educational opportunity. Additionally, I would like to let the citizenry know how well their community is run as I don't think many are aware of it. In 2011, citizens saw their water bill go up substantially as there had not been an increase in over 10 years and they saw their property tax go up also. In Newton, like many places, citizens are typhically apathetic and pay little attention to city government until it affects their pocketbook.
By the end of this week I will have over 200 hours completed. I am currently working on researching fluoridation of municipal water for the Suzanne Loomis, the City Engineer & the Director of Public Works and Lunda has me researching municipal grant policies. I am to start researching city fees for him in the near future.
As this Monday was a holiday, City Hall was closed so I took this opportunity to visit my daughter and her family in Texas. I would not have gone if it had been snowy or icy, but the weather was fine, a little rainy, but fine. The drivers between here and Texas are unbelieveable, especially those Texas drivers. You can be going 10 miles over the speed limit and they will practically push you out of their way. I thought I might have gotten two speeding tickets in Oklahoma, but the highway patrol in the medians are there to create a "halo" effect and cause people to slow down. My insurance company would not have been happy about two speeding tickets...my husband didn't sound too happy either! Well, that was going to Texas, but on the way back it was cruise control all the way. The local ducks and geese are glad to see that I have come back as I am sure that they have missed their daily feedings. I am thinking about getting some sunflower seeds to add to their corn diet. Well, if you are still reading this, thanks for taking the time.
I would like to say that I am very much enjoying my internship. Another thing that happened on Valentine's Day was that Lunda scheduled a meeting for us with Randy Riggs, the City Manager, to discuss how my internship was going and to make sure I was getting out of it what I wanted and what was needed in order to satisfy ASU's requirements!! Now just how nice is that?!! I am thinking that when my internship is over, I will submit a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (The Newton Kansan - original, huh) thanking those at City Hall for giving me this wonderful experience and educational opportunity. Additionally, I would like to let the citizenry know how well their community is run as I don't think many are aware of it. In 2011, citizens saw their water bill go up substantially as there had not been an increase in over 10 years and they saw their property tax go up also. In Newton, like many places, citizens are typhically apathetic and pay little attention to city government until it affects their pocketbook.
By the end of this week I will have over 200 hours completed. I am currently working on researching fluoridation of municipal water for the Suzanne Loomis, the City Engineer & the Director of Public Works and Lunda has me researching municipal grant policies. I am to start researching city fees for him in the near future.
As this Monday was a holiday, City Hall was closed so I took this opportunity to visit my daughter and her family in Texas. I would not have gone if it had been snowy or icy, but the weather was fine, a little rainy, but fine. The drivers between here and Texas are unbelieveable, especially those Texas drivers. You can be going 10 miles over the speed limit and they will practically push you out of their way. I thought I might have gotten two speeding tickets in Oklahoma, but the highway patrol in the medians are there to create a "halo" effect and cause people to slow down. My insurance company would not have been happy about two speeding tickets...my husband didn't sound too happy either! Well, that was going to Texas, but on the way back it was cruise control all the way. The local ducks and geese are glad to see that I have come back as I am sure that they have missed their daily feedings. I am thinking about getting some sunflower seeds to add to their corn diet. Well, if you are still reading this, thanks for taking the time.
City Council Meeting & More ~ 2/14/12
This proved to be a long evening as it began at 5:00 pm with a tour of the first floor with the City Council and all of the Department Heads. The purpose of the tour was to show the Council the necessity for the safety redesign. The actual layout and features were presented by the City Engineer. Following this was a short Budget Work Session to give the Council a prelude of what to expect in the upcoming budget. Following the Work Session, there was a brief Executive Meeting (which has been about the only thing that I have not been included in). The City Council meeting began at 7:00. The first item on the agenda was the year-end financial report, in length and detail. Assistant City Manager Lunda Asmani is in charge of financial matters. He discussed some history leading up to 2011 and then compared 2010 to 2011. For the past three years Newton has drawn down some on the General Fund balance, but in 2011 there was a surplus which was great news. I already knew much of what Lunda was saying as I had spent a couple of weeks researching, comparing, and graphing the General Fund budgets versus actual revenues and expenditures.
The second item on the agenda was consideration of an agreement for the South Kansas Renovation Project and this was presented by the City Engineer and passed by the Council. (South Kansas is a street in Newton) For the third item, the City Attorney presented an ordinance which established reporting regulations for pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers, junk dealers (and jewelry stores) within the City. There are basically two pawnbrokers in Newton, one reports items pawned daily to the Police Department and the other reports weekly and does not want to report daily. The Police Department compares items reported stolen with these lists. This ended up being tabled due to further research being needed due to State regulations concerning this. The City Attorney did read parts of statutes that are still on the books that sound as though they came from the early 1900s. The City Attorney spoke once again when he presented the fourth item on the agenda about giving consideration to an Ordinance authorizing the City to participate in a consortium of counties for the HUD Sustainable Community Planning Grant. The counties seem to be a bit disorganized and this, too, was tabled pending county interest in participating. The fifth and final item on the agenda was presented again by the City Engineer to consider a Resolution establishing a truck route relative to the new Kansas Logistics Park. This was also tabled as the City is waiting on confirmation of part of the funding from KDOT. The Council meeting was adjourned at 8:30...one very long day for this intern as my day began at 9:00.
The second item on the agenda was consideration of an agreement for the South Kansas Renovation Project and this was presented by the City Engineer and passed by the Council. (South Kansas is a street in Newton) For the third item, the City Attorney presented an ordinance which established reporting regulations for pawnbrokers, secondhand dealers, junk dealers (and jewelry stores) within the City. There are basically two pawnbrokers in Newton, one reports items pawned daily to the Police Department and the other reports weekly and does not want to report daily. The Police Department compares items reported stolen with these lists. This ended up being tabled due to further research being needed due to State regulations concerning this. The City Attorney did read parts of statutes that are still on the books that sound as though they came from the early 1900s. The City Attorney spoke once again when he presented the fourth item on the agenda about giving consideration to an Ordinance authorizing the City to participate in a consortium of counties for the HUD Sustainable Community Planning Grant. The counties seem to be a bit disorganized and this, too, was tabled pending county interest in participating. The fifth and final item on the agenda was presented again by the City Engineer to consider a Resolution establishing a truck route relative to the new Kansas Logistics Park. This was also tabled as the City is waiting on confirmation of part of the funding from KDOT. The Council meeting was adjourned at 8:30...one very long day for this intern as my day began at 9:00.
Finance & Human Resource All Staff Meeting ~ 2/9/12
Assistant City Manager Lunda Asmani arranged for this quarterly meeting. Lunda meets with the Supervisors of these departments on a regular basis as they are departments that he oversees, but this meeting included all staff members as well. The city's water billing and collections is related to the Finance Department and both are located on the bottom floor of City Hall. Newton's City Hall is the only governmental building that I have been in that does not have metal detectors or guards at the entrances. As security and the safety of employees is a concern of management, this floor is scheduled for a security redesign beginning in March. This will involve moving the Finance Department to another location while their area is remodeled for Newton's water billing and collections. Once this is completed, Water Billing and Collections will move into this area and then reconstruction of their old area will be done to accommodate the Finance Department. This process is expected to be completed sometime in July. The staff was given a timeline as laid out by the City Engineer.
Following discussion over the remodel timeline, Lunda provided updates regarding new staffing that affected the departments - a new management analyst for the Finance Department and a new utility billing clerk for the Water Billing and Collections area. The next topic covered was organizational development opportunities which are available on-line to all employees. Lunda then gave them a status update on the IT assessment study. Following that, the head of HR discussed the progress made on the new Compensation and Classification study that the City has been working on. The next major topic presented was the upcoming development of the 2013 budget. Following that was a round table discussion updating other areas of happenings or concerns. At the end, Lunda opened a Q/A session and asked for any process improvement suggestions. With few exceptions, everyone in attendance has been employed by the City for ten or more years and has weathered many annual budgets. Lunda encouraged all present to work together as a team with no in-fighting. I asked him if there had been a reason for that comment later as everyone has seemed to get along very well. He said that they all get along very well...perhaps it was his way of ensuring that would continue.
Following discussion over the remodel timeline, Lunda provided updates regarding new staffing that affected the departments - a new management analyst for the Finance Department and a new utility billing clerk for the Water Billing and Collections area. The next topic covered was organizational development opportunities which are available on-line to all employees. Lunda then gave them a status update on the IT assessment study. Following that, the head of HR discussed the progress made on the new Compensation and Classification study that the City has been working on. The next major topic presented was the upcoming development of the 2013 budget. Following that was a round table discussion updating other areas of happenings or concerns. At the end, Lunda opened a Q/A session and asked for any process improvement suggestions. With few exceptions, everyone in attendance has been employed by the City for ten or more years and has weathered many annual budgets. Lunda encouraged all present to work together as a team with no in-fighting. I asked him if there had been a reason for that comment later as everyone has seemed to get along very well. He said that they all get along very well...perhaps it was his way of ensuring that would continue.
Department Head Meeting ~Valentine's Day
I thought I would give you a little insight as to what is discussed at a typical Department Head meeting. As I have mentioned before, Newton is revamping their Employee Manual which includes modifications to the present pay scale. They are going from 7 steps to 14 steps with a floating system which eliminates COLA. The impact of these raises will be divided between funds and will be effective in January 2013. Prior to the City Council meeting to present this, the City Manager and Assistant City Managers will meet one-on-one with each of the Council members so that they will be able to ask any immediate questions they have and time to reflect about it. The city has hired Austin Powers for this research and they will present their findings at the 4/13 Council meeting. This will not result in a tax increase. Rates of pay will be based on the market. Management deems this as the city's obligation to its employees, and does not consider this an option.
The next item discussed had to do with IT. City Hall has made arrangements for PTI to do an assessment of their current system and future needs. I had been invited to sit in on a conference call between Alan Shark of PTI and both of the Assistant City Managers and the IT person. PTI was recently in Phoenix making a presentation at Alliance for Innovation (or it might have been at ICMA). They will do a SWOT analysis including budgeting, personnel, and the system which will include talking to those in IT and others as well. Consideration is being given to moving or integrating computers from Fire Station 1 to City Hall as the Fire Department has a stand alone system. Everything is expected to be centralized eventually. A second visit will take place 60 to 90 days later to present findings. One of the Assistant City Managers will be researching the IT expenditures of various departments.
The next item discussed was leadership training. Implementation of servant leadership is to be a citywide process, a culture we embrace through maximizing strengths. Internally this is seen by some as a conflict between top-down and bottom-up management styles. Communication is seen as being very important. The current situation is seen as being reactionary instead of proactive. Supervisor training is seen as been easier than leadership training. Newton is in the process of hiring a financial management analyst and an office manager for the airport.
The final topic dealt with current legislation being considered by the State of Kansas. It is expected that KDOT will be losing some of its state funding. The State is considering tax lids and policies freezing government. All in all, this is seen as an attack on cities, similar to the viewpoint of cities in Arizona.
On a lighter note, the husband of the Public Information Officer appeared up as the meeting was ending. He is a very talented member of a barber shop quartet which were also in tow. They seranaded the PIO with a couple of tunes for Valentine's Day which we all enjoyed. This left the Fire Chief wondering if his wife would find his toaster oven a satisfactory gift (LOL).
The next item discussed had to do with IT. City Hall has made arrangements for PTI to do an assessment of their current system and future needs. I had been invited to sit in on a conference call between Alan Shark of PTI and both of the Assistant City Managers and the IT person. PTI was recently in Phoenix making a presentation at Alliance for Innovation (or it might have been at ICMA). They will do a SWOT analysis including budgeting, personnel, and the system which will include talking to those in IT and others as well. Consideration is being given to moving or integrating computers from Fire Station 1 to City Hall as the Fire Department has a stand alone system. Everything is expected to be centralized eventually. A second visit will take place 60 to 90 days later to present findings. One of the Assistant City Managers will be researching the IT expenditures of various departments.
The next item discussed was leadership training. Implementation of servant leadership is to be a citywide process, a culture we embrace through maximizing strengths. Internally this is seen by some as a conflict between top-down and bottom-up management styles. Communication is seen as being very important. The current situation is seen as being reactionary instead of proactive. Supervisor training is seen as been easier than leadership training. Newton is in the process of hiring a financial management analyst and an office manager for the airport.
The final topic dealt with current legislation being considered by the State of Kansas. It is expected that KDOT will be losing some of its state funding. The State is considering tax lids and policies freezing government. All in all, this is seen as an attack on cities, similar to the viewpoint of cities in Arizona.
On a lighter note, the husband of the Public Information Officer appeared up as the meeting was ending. He is a very talented member of a barber shop quartet which were also in tow. They seranaded the PIO with a couple of tunes for Valentine's Day which we all enjoyed. This left the Fire Chief wondering if his wife would find his toaster oven a satisfactory gift (LOL).
Johnson County Stormwater Management Program ~ Water Quality Monitoring
Located in the northeast corner of Kansas, Johnson County is probably one of the wealthiest counties in Kansas. It is home to 7 watersheds and 21 cities. Kansas counties are very small in size compared to those in Arizona, but only 50% of it is developed. Unlike many of the counties in Kansas, Johnson County took a very proactive approach to environmental issues and developed a program before it was mandated by the EPA. At one time, Kansas allowed counties to develop a Stormwater Sales tax and with the voters approval, a 1/10th of a cent sales tax was passed in 1988.
They have an integrated watershed program which is concerned with quality and quantity. Through this program, they provide both financial and technical assistance to cities, all the way from mitigation to management of stormwater. They have just completed a floodplain update for FEMA. The agency collects both rain and stream gauge data information. They partner with numerous other agencies, such as FEMA, USGS, EPA, KU, KState, WERF High performance. One of the ways the Johnson County program aids their communities is through sharing the costs of developing Best Management Practices in: water & sediment sampling; biological assessments; and continuous quality monitoring of water, sediment and biological samples. They have used 25% of their funding in developing BMP manuals for their member cities.
They have found increases in bacteria and wastewater components vary with the geographical location and the season. In winter, road salt and fertilizer are factors and in spring, pesticides are common. It would make sense to find fertilizers and pesticides as upstream areas are heavy agricultural areas. Due to the heavy snows during winter, road salt is also not a surprise. We were told that 90% of the suspended sediment load occurs in only 20% of the time. I would assume that much of this occurs during the melting of snow during the early spring. Macroinvertebrates found in streams indicate the water quality as it relates to impervious surfaces.
For issues relating to both stormwater control and quality, they found dry retention to be the best approach. This means the water is channeled to a retention basin where it can be held and either released slowly or perculate into the soil underneath. This results in extended release times and reduced volumes of stormwater. They have found one of the best areas to spend their money is in educating their residents about pet waste, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Other areas discussed dealt with bioretention, green roofs (and walls), porous pavement, and extended wet and dry ponds. In addition to sharing about their successes, they also told us about an embarassing failure resulting from constructing a parking lot out of what was supposed to be porous materials adjacent to their office.
I have many more notes from this speech, but I think this gives an overall flavor. They did echo some of the concerns faced by other counties. There is a steep learning curve, staff turnover, equipment bugs, drought, and funding issues. If interested in further information relative to this program, you may contact lee.kellenberger@jocogov.org
This presentation was given at the Clean 19 consortium which I attended with Newton's Director of Public Works.
They have an integrated watershed program which is concerned with quality and quantity. Through this program, they provide both financial and technical assistance to cities, all the way from mitigation to management of stormwater. They have just completed a floodplain update for FEMA. The agency collects both rain and stream gauge data information. They partner with numerous other agencies, such as FEMA, USGS, EPA, KU, KState, WERF High performance. One of the ways the Johnson County program aids their communities is through sharing the costs of developing Best Management Practices in: water & sediment sampling; biological assessments; and continuous quality monitoring of water, sediment and biological samples. They have used 25% of their funding in developing BMP manuals for their member cities.
They have found increases in bacteria and wastewater components vary with the geographical location and the season. In winter, road salt and fertilizer are factors and in spring, pesticides are common. It would make sense to find fertilizers and pesticides as upstream areas are heavy agricultural areas. Due to the heavy snows during winter, road salt is also not a surprise. We were told that 90% of the suspended sediment load occurs in only 20% of the time. I would assume that much of this occurs during the melting of snow during the early spring. Macroinvertebrates found in streams indicate the water quality as it relates to impervious surfaces.
For issues relating to both stormwater control and quality, they found dry retention to be the best approach. This means the water is channeled to a retention basin where it can be held and either released slowly or perculate into the soil underneath. This results in extended release times and reduced volumes of stormwater. They have found one of the best areas to spend their money is in educating their residents about pet waste, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Other areas discussed dealt with bioretention, green roofs (and walls), porous pavement, and extended wet and dry ponds. In addition to sharing about their successes, they also told us about an embarassing failure resulting from constructing a parking lot out of what was supposed to be porous materials adjacent to their office.
I have many more notes from this speech, but I think this gives an overall flavor. They did echo some of the concerns faced by other counties. There is a steep learning curve, staff turnover, equipment bugs, drought, and funding issues. If interested in further information relative to this program, you may contact lee.kellenberger@jocogov.org
This presentation was given at the Clean 19 consortium which I attended with Newton's Director of Public Works.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Pave Drain: Sustainable Stormwater Solutions
This was a presentation at the Clean 19 meeting I attended in Salina with the City Engineer & Director of Public Works. The Clean 19 was formed so that small communities could collaborate to meet EPA's unfunded mandates regarding stormwater pollution. I was allowed to go along due to my interests in water and my NPDES, Phase II research with Dr. Stacey White of KU. Pave Drain has products that work with controlling sediment, dust, and erosion in order to promote stormwater quality. This also involves controlling stormwater quantity to prevent flooding. The concrete blocks in the demonstration are designed to "zipper" together to create a mat. This mat is held together with cables and features an arch underneath to channel the water. The mat is built over the top of a bed of rock with geotextile fabric between the rock and the mat. The fabric is monofilament and provides separation (for water penetration), filtration, and strength. The rock must be clean with relatively few fines as there need to be voids to allow permeability into the lower layers. The rock should not be sandstone or limestone as they will degrade creating fines. The rock bed should be at least 6" deep, but the deeper, the better. This system allows for both stormwater infiltration (recharge) and storage. The blocks interlock and the purpose of the non-corrosive cables is ease of installation and cleaning. This system requires minimal maintenance for up to 20 years if these guidelines are followed. If the mat becomes clogged with debris, a crane will be needed to lift the mats so that the fabric may be cleaned or replaced. Typically there is an outside border to assist in holding this in place. This process is used in parking lots which are traditionally non-permeable. The arch provides great strength to the block and the demonstration showed fire trucks parked on it. The only distributor for this in Arizona is Superlite blocks.
This is one of the products provided by Jeff Pearce of ASP Enterprises. When Newton's new fire station was constructed, ASP installed a rainwater retainage system. As Suzanne Loomis is a no-nonsense type person and was the one who invited him to speak, she must have been pleased with the quality of the product and the service. There was also a presentation concerning the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program Water Quality Monitoring which I shall post in a separate blog.
This is one of the products provided by Jeff Pearce of ASP Enterprises. When Newton's new fire station was constructed, ASP installed a rainwater retainage system. As Suzanne Loomis is a no-nonsense type person and was the one who invited him to speak, she must have been pleased with the quality of the product and the service. There was also a presentation concerning the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program Water Quality Monitoring which I shall post in a separate blog.
EDGE: The Framework for Civic Leadership (Session 2)
This 3 hour session on Tuesday evening covered several topics. We were asked about our expectations of the speaker. In this manner he was reversing the expectation on the audience in order to engage them in the program. A comment was made that this was "a room full of leaders" and that we were among our peers. Then we were asked how this constrains the speaker. Comments to this were that he was in a risky position as he was not allowed to fail. Others offered that the speaker would need to be impressive but also humble and was required to be an expert as well as a facilitator. One of the most impressive quotes that I shall take with me was - "Authority is a title and leadership is an action." Leadership is mobilizing others to handle difficult situations. A leader provides "protection, direction, and order in exchange for cooperation."
We talked about perspective and emotional safety. Comfort and trust are very different from one another. A leader needs to address a situation or issue that is uncomfortable enough to motivate change, but must be comfortable with the people in order for them to take action. Leadership is an activity that creates action leading to progress.
We then broke up into groups with assigned factions - verbal, reflective, non-profit, authority figures, outsiders (of Newton), native Newtonians, liberal political views, conservative political views, educators, health care, traditionalists, newbies, environmentalists, etc. Our group addressed this from the viewpoint of a non-profit. This somewhat surprised me as both the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief were at my table. We were to determine the core values, loyalties, and risks taken by those in a non-profit leadership position. Values were: model ethical behavior; safety of our clients/citizens; service to others being valued more than money; and by practicing these we achieve personal well-being. Loyalties were dedication: to community; to the organization's mission; and to heritage and structure. Risks of making a poor decision that faced those in this group were: loss of funding; loss of of public support/community backing; loss of resources (including quality personnel); loss of esteem/reputation; and loss of relationships.
As you can see this was a rather in depth discussion. The approach of those who provide this training makes one uncomfortable in the beginning, but toward the end of the session one is able to understand what they were trying to get at. I will have to miss the third session tomorrow morning as I will be attending a meeting of the Clean 19 with Newton's City Engineer & Director of Public Works, but I will attend the fourth and final session. I hope this has given you something to ponder.
We talked about perspective and emotional safety. Comfort and trust are very different from one another. A leader needs to address a situation or issue that is uncomfortable enough to motivate change, but must be comfortable with the people in order for them to take action. Leadership is an activity that creates action leading to progress.
We then broke up into groups with assigned factions - verbal, reflective, non-profit, authority figures, outsiders (of Newton), native Newtonians, liberal political views, conservative political views, educators, health care, traditionalists, newbies, environmentalists, etc. Our group addressed this from the viewpoint of a non-profit. This somewhat surprised me as both the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief were at my table. We were to determine the core values, loyalties, and risks taken by those in a non-profit leadership position. Values were: model ethical behavior; safety of our clients/citizens; service to others being valued more than money; and by practicing these we achieve personal well-being. Loyalties were dedication: to community; to the organization's mission; and to heritage and structure. Risks of making a poor decision that faced those in this group were: loss of funding; loss of of public support/community backing; loss of resources (including quality personnel); loss of esteem/reputation; and loss of relationships.
As you can see this was a rather in depth discussion. The approach of those who provide this training makes one uncomfortable in the beginning, but toward the end of the session one is able to understand what they were trying to get at. I will have to miss the third session tomorrow morning as I will be attending a meeting of the Clean 19 with Newton's City Engineer & Director of Public Works, but I will attend the fourth and final session. I hope this has given you something to ponder.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Music...Reading...etc
Well I went to Karen's Kitchen last night and listened to Mark Bowling. What an amazing talent he has! To me, his voice and singing style sound like a cross between Chris Isaak and Garth Brooks. In addition to a having the soul of a poet, he has a disarming sense of humor. It was enjoyable time. Mark is from Derby, Kansas and is finalizing a deal with record producers in Nashville. He considers himself a composer first and a performer second. I thought he was exceptional at both.
From there we went to the American Legion Hall for a Valentine Dance benefitting Heart to Heart, a charity sponsored by the Sheriff. The motto of Heart to Heart is "Children are our greatest resource." "By creating Heart to Heart, children who had been abused could come to a center that was built child friendly and with resources available for the child and the child's family. Heart to Heart relies on a multidisciplinary response to child abuse. Instead of numerous interviews by various agencies, those agencies joined in a team effort so the child would be interviewed by only one person. It is the goal of Heart to Heart to provide the necessary services, resources and compassion for children and the families who come to the center reporting abuse." (http://www.hearttoheartcac.com/)
Please forgive my digression from the dance... Larry Thompson's Belt Buckle Band played for four hours. This, too, was a combination of good music and humor. This band had five musicians...all very talented and able to play each other's instruments. One of the band members lives in Newton, several in Wichita, one in Hesston, and one has a goat farm in southeastern Kansas (as you may imagine, he was quite a hoot!). I was told that Larry Thompson is a principal at a school in Hesston (Hesston is much smaller than Newton so there may be only 2 schools in the community, but there is also a private college). I ran into some old friends and some new ones from City Hall. There was plenty of food and drinks. Toward the end of the evening, the results of a silent auction were revealed. There was a wide assortment of prizes donated by local merchants.
Now for my reading...it is article after article on NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). I am working on literature reviews for these to assist in determining the direction of my research with Dr. White. According to the EPA, "nonpoint source pollution is the single largest threat to water quality in the U.S." Stormwater and efforts made by small communities to comply with this policy are the focus of our research project. I had never given much thought to this as there is little stormwater in Phoenix. Consequently, I have not read any "good books" lately; however, I think you all might find "Water Follies" interesting as four chapters in it deal with Arizona and it is written by a professor from the UofA. Will close for now to try to gather my thoughts and get busy writing. Sundays are typically very quiet with many of the stores closed...in other words, very different from Phoenix . Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for reading.
From there we went to the American Legion Hall for a Valentine Dance benefitting Heart to Heart, a charity sponsored by the Sheriff. The motto of Heart to Heart is "Children are our greatest resource." "By creating Heart to Heart, children who had been abused could come to a center that was built child friendly and with resources available for the child and the child's family. Heart to Heart relies on a multidisciplinary response to child abuse. Instead of numerous interviews by various agencies, those agencies joined in a team effort so the child would be interviewed by only one person. It is the goal of Heart to Heart to provide the necessary services, resources and compassion for children and the families who come to the center reporting abuse." (http://www.hearttoheartcac.com/)
Please forgive my digression from the dance... Larry Thompson's Belt Buckle Band played for four hours. This, too, was a combination of good music and humor. This band had five musicians...all very talented and able to play each other's instruments. One of the band members lives in Newton, several in Wichita, one in Hesston, and one has a goat farm in southeastern Kansas (as you may imagine, he was quite a hoot!). I was told that Larry Thompson is a principal at a school in Hesston (Hesston is much smaller than Newton so there may be only 2 schools in the community, but there is also a private college). I ran into some old friends and some new ones from City Hall. There was plenty of food and drinks. Toward the end of the evening, the results of a silent auction were revealed. There was a wide assortment of prizes donated by local merchants.
Now for my reading...it is article after article on NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). I am working on literature reviews for these to assist in determining the direction of my research with Dr. White. According to the EPA, "nonpoint source pollution is the single largest threat to water quality in the U.S." Stormwater and efforts made by small communities to comply with this policy are the focus of our research project. I had never given much thought to this as there is little stormwater in Phoenix. Consequently, I have not read any "good books" lately; however, I think you all might find "Water Follies" interesting as four chapters in it deal with Arizona and it is written by a professor from the UofA. Will close for now to try to gather my thoughts and get busy writing. Sundays are typically very quiet with many of the stores closed...in other words, very different from Phoenix . Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for reading.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Week 5
Well this week has been
rather uneventful. I finally wrapped up
the comparison of the 2010 and 2011 revenues and expenditures of the General
Fund and completed a longevity payment spreadsheet comparing Newton to other
municipalities of similar size. I was
able to finalize the insurance renewal meetings for next Monday after making
last minute schedule adjustments. Newton
is in the process of updating and revamping their Employee Manual. I have spent much of the last three days
reviewing the Employee Manual for flow and errors. This has been a rather tedious process. I can tell you that it is a definite
advantage to work for the fire department with regard to benefits and pay. The next best department to work for is the
police department. I am not
knowledgeable about how other cities are run, but Newton seems to operate quite
smoothly. I think everyone respects and
likes the City Manager and both of the Assistant City Managers. This is reassuring after reading all of the
problems faced by City Managers in the ICMA Case Book which was used in our
City and County Manager class.
Monday night I attended
the meeting of the Planning Commission.
Discussion included an addition to one of the nursing homes and a
proposed modification to a private residential property. Perhaps the most significant topic was the
City Attorney’s presentation relative to future placement of multi-media towers
within the City. He urged the Commission
to be proactive or placement would be granted by the State and the City would
have little to say about it. It was a
rather lengthy presentation and one could almost see the eyes of one of the
Commissioners glaze over. Whereas most
of the Commissioners appear to have a good grasp on their duties, one of them
seems to be out of her area of expertise.
Assistant City Manager
Lunda Asmani held a quarterly meeting with all of the staff of the Finance and
Human Resource Departments to discuss the year-end closing and upcoming
redesigning of their departments for safety purposes. I finished out my week by attending a seminar
presented by “Your Leadership EDGE.” I wrote a separate post regarding this.
Saturday afternoon my
sister and I will be going to Karen’s Kitchen to listen to a variety of local
musicians. Following that there is a
Valentine’s Day Dance at the American Legion which then starts at 7:00 which
will benefit Heart to Heart which is a local charity sponsored by the
Sheriff. Today was a beautiful day even
though it was only in the 30s. On my way
to City Hall, I fed the ducks and Canadian geese on Sand Creek and the
squirrels in Athletic Park. However, right
now it is beyond chilly and it is expected to get down to 4 degrees tonight. I worked 32.5 hours this week for a total of 148.25 thus far.
Discovering Our Collective Leadership Edge
This seminar was
presented by Your Leadership EDGE:
Innovative Leadership for you and your Community. Session 1 took place on Friday, February 10,
2012 from 2:00 – 4:30. The focus of
today’s session was twofold: 1) to find
the gap between the current reality and our future aspirations for our
respective communities; and 2) to explore our roles in the issues we care
about. We discussed two different types
of problems - those dealing with technical issues versus adaptive issues. With technical issues the problem solution is
clear and known, but adaptive issues require learning. An example given of a technical issue was the
failure earlier today of a lift pump.
Examples of adaptive issues were community solidarity and local poverty
relief. An expert or someone in
authority typically is called on to fix technical problems and it is often done
quickly. On the other hand, adaptive
issues typically involve a process or an experiment and require effort on
behalf of the stakeholders. This program
focuses on adaptive issues as they require leadership.
I sat with the Chief of Police and the Fire/EMS Chief. There were about sixty attendees from the City of Newton, Harvey County, and a wide variety of local non-profit agencies. Each of us had our own issues that we were concerned about. Mine has evolved since I have been doing research for Dr. White. I would like to see a unified approach by Newton and other local municipalities, the Sand Creek Watershed, and Harvey County to the EPA’s unfunded mandates regarding the NPDES Phase II (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). Currently, the mandate only applies to Newton, but the Watershed and the County have major impacts on local water quality. The City of Newton is 11.73 square miles in size and lies within Harvey County which covers 540.5 square miles.
I sat with the Chief of Police and the Fire/EMS Chief. There were about sixty attendees from the City of Newton, Harvey County, and a wide variety of local non-profit agencies. Each of us had our own issues that we were concerned about. Mine has evolved since I have been doing research for Dr. White. I would like to see a unified approach by Newton and other local municipalities, the Sand Creek Watershed, and Harvey County to the EPA’s unfunded mandates regarding the NPDES Phase II (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). Currently, the mandate only applies to Newton, but the Watershed and the County have major impacts on local water quality. The City of Newton is 11.73 square miles in size and lies within Harvey County which covers 540.5 square miles.
We have a booklet which
we are to work in. We are to list the
Technical Elements and the Adaptive Elements.
For Technical Elements, we are to list: 1) Expertise or information
needed; 2) How might we get this done? Who could help?; and 3) What challenges
might we face?. For Adaptive Elements,
we are to list: 1) What do we need to learn or change?; 2) How might we work
together? What process should we use?; and 3) What challenges might we
face?.
I am finding my
background in Public Administration and in Urban Planning to be beneficial in addressing
these issues. We were encouraged to
address issues that we were not too large for us to tackle, like eliminating
World Hunger. There are two more
sessions next week and one the week after that.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Week 4
A good part of this week was spent working on
comparing the actual 2010 and 2011 revenues and expenditures of the General
Fund. This involved developing spreadsheets,
graphs, and pie charts. This has taken
much longer than it should have as I was unaware that I needed to combine
amounts for the various classifications from different departments. I think it was a valuable lesson as it gave
me a much clearer picture of the revenues and expenditures of the City. The largest departmental expenditures were
the Fire/EMS Department and the Police Department. My work focused only on the General Fund. The document I was preparing is for the City
Council so that they can review the past year’s revenues and expenditures. There was a 1.6 mils property tax increase
that went into effect in 2011 which created an increase in property tax
revenues. This was counter-balanced in
part by a drop in new housing permit revenues and a slight reduction in
property values.
Assistant City Manager Lunda Asmani asked that I
schedule individual insurance renewal meetings including the Assistant City
Managers, City department heads, and supervisors. My first scheduling contact was Suzanne
Loomis, the City Engineer and Director of Public Works. There is no one busier at City Hall than
Suzanne and I worked the rest of the meetings around her availability. Suzanne has me working on research for her
regarding fluoridation of city water as she is questioning the advisability of
it. Fluoride was originally a rat poison
and is very corrosive. In my research I
have found that the federal government has reduced the levels of fluoridation
they recommend. I still have more research
to do on this and am wondering if fluoride is bio-accumulative. Suzanne has asked me to check with Dr. White
to see if she would be interested in researching this. Suzanne has been helpful to me regarding my
research with Dr. White on the EPA’s NPDES Phase II project. She spearheads a consortium of municipal
public works officials called the Clean 19.
She will be taking me to their quarterly meeting in March.
Thursday afternoon was spent in the City Prosecutor’s
office and in Municipal Court. First you
must remember that this is a small town…there were three 13 year old kids that
were ticketed and fined for possession of cigarettes. One of them had been before the judge the
month before. These fines range up to
$200 and the kids were given community service jobs which pay $5 per hour. The judge displays a myriad of emotions –
sternness, humor, and common sense. Of
course there were others who were there for drunk driving, domestic violence, animal
control issues, speeding, and running stop signs. It seems that over half of the people that
appeared in the City Prosecutor’s office had appeared there before and the secretary knew them by name. There were situations in which I found myself feeling sorry for individuals on both sides. I also found that I am not a good judge of character as one man that I thought seemed like a rational father had previously been convicted of beating his wife and another that I thought looked like a drunk actually worked to help young people with addictions. Guess its a good thing that I never met BTK or I would have thought him to be my friend! For those of you who have never heard of him, he was a serial murderer from this general area and BTK stood for Bind Torture & Kill. I am certainly glad that he is in prison and will never get out.
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