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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMayCity maffers •. K CITY OF SEBASTIAN NEWSLETTER FROM THE DESK OF PHIL BOWERS: Within the next several months the City of Sebastian will be undertaking two significant activities. One will be the adoption of a set of personnel rules and policies to replace our current S.O.P.'s. These Hiles and policies will be the cornerstone upon which our personnel system will be established and evolve. When a `draft' is ready for review and comment, we invite all employees to participate with their input and comments. The other activity of significance will be the negotiation of a labor contract. The current contract expires September 30,1997. The City management has a number of new proposals to make and including revisions to the existing contract. We hope to begin this process in late May or early June. The adoption of new rules and policies and the negotiation of a new contract may very well set the emplolees relations cpourse for our City for a long time to come. Every employee needs to stay `tuned in' for upcoming events in these two significant areas. QUOTABLE QUOTES "Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator and change has its enemies. » RohertF.. Kennedy "When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were. " John F. Kennedy FOR SALE: `91 Mercury Tracer, beige, 4 door, air, AM & FM radio, auto. Car was well maintained. Call Sally Gnumveig, 589-5490. MAY, 1997 INSIDE CITY LIMITS Birthdays 05/03 Richard Taracka - Councilmember 05/04 Steven DiTrapano - P/W Maintenance Worker I 05/06 Tami Underwood - P/D Police Officer 05/07 Sylvia Clark - P/W Maintenance Worker I 05/10 Larry Hardison - P/D Police Sergeant 05/14 Dennis White - P/D Chief of police 05/16 Joy Green - G/C Head Cashier 05/21 Cathy Derby - C/C Information Specialist 05/21 Terry Hill - P/W Engineering Technician 05/22 Jean Tarbell - C/M Administrative Assistant 05/23 Joseph Bricker - P/W Maintenance Worker II 05/24 Larry Paul - Councilmember 05/28 William Shandor - G/C Starter/Ranger 05/30 Gary Nicholas - P/W Maintenance Worker II LonveWty Emplovees with 10 or more Years of service: 05/18/81 Jean Tarbell - C/M Administrative Assistant 05/09/83 Ed Wessendorf - P/W Maintenance Worker III 05/07/87 Michelle Morris - P/D Police Officer Employees with 5-9 years of service: 05/01/89 Gloria Brown - P/D Communications Tech. 05/22/89 Margie Poole - F/D Account Clerk III 05/10/91 Gary Johnson - P/W Maintenance Worker I 05/23/91 Charles Reilly - P/D Communications Tech. Important Dates $ 05/02/97 Pay Day ? 05/09/97 ICMA Retirement V 05/11/97 Mother's Day $ 05/16/97 Pay Day 9 05/26/97 Memorial Day $ 05/30/97 Pay Day City of Sebastian Employee Newsletter NEW HIRES WELCOME ABOARD: Patrick Brennan is the new Public Works Director. He started working on April 14, 1997 and hails from Castle Creek, New York- Stephen orkStephen E. Beane is working at the Golf Course as a temporary part-time cashier. Steve Obendorf is also working at the Golf Course as a temporary part-time cashier. MISCELLANEOUS EMPLOYEE NEWS1 Condolences to Sally Grnnzweig on the death of her husband and Steve DiTrapano on the loss of his uncle, Peter Gnmzweig. Condolences to the family of George Schum, school crossing guard at the Police Department who died on April 16, 1997. Tim Zelinski, Police Department Communications Dispatcher, is home recuperating from surgery. Hope you are back up on your feet real soon. John Pratt, Heavy Equipment Operator at Public Works recently had surgery. Doctors say they can't believe how well John is doing. Keep up the good work and hope to see ya back soon. Congratulations to Dawn Corapi for winning employee of the first quarter. Dawn is a Clerical Assistant I with Community Development. Joel Haniford has accepted a position with Santa Rosa County Commission as its county's management and budget director. Janet Isman, Assistant Finance Director will be Interim Finance Director after Joel leaves in June. Mr. Steve Brindle, Marketing Representative for ICMA, will be here on May 9, 1997, from 9:00 am. to 3:00 p.m. Anyone interested in meeting with Steve should call 388-8240 to schedule a time. No More Worry "It's important to differentiate between a `concern' and a `worry.' "A concern is something you can do something about. If you have a concern, do something about it—even if it's just a first step. "A worry is something you can't do anything about If you can't do anything, ask yourself why ,you should allow the situation to make your life miserable. "Seldom do we worry about the present The present moment is usually all right "When we worry, we either agonize about the past—which we should have forgotten long ago --or we agonize about the future—which hasn't even come vet "When we live in the present moment, we tend not to worry." Peace Pilgrim QUOTABLE QUOTES "If you can remember what you worried about last week, you have a very good memory." —Unknown " I've had a lot of problems in my day—most of which never happened." Mark Twain " If the grass is greener in the other fellow's yard—let him worry about cutting it.» —Fred Allen 66A person must try to worry about things that aren't important so he won't worry too much things that are. » Jack Smith EXERCISE For a smooth -running machine! More than 40% of American adults think that exercise is the best way to reduce stress, but less than 25% exercise regularly. Many of us say we don't have time to exercise, but we do have time to watch over 25 hours of television a week, on average. Exercise can literally help you nun or walk away from your problems. Take time out to work it out • Find activities you like to do, or you won't keep doing them. • Have a variety of options -even if you really like walling, for example, you may not want to do it every day (especially if it's 90 degrees and raining outside). • Try working exercise into your daily activities - walk to the store for errands, take the stairs instead of the elevator, ride your bike to a friend's house, buy a push mower. • Get some type of physical activity every day for at least 30 minutes. • Find an exercise buddy–someone who will help keep you motivated (and vice -versa). EXERCISE Great for cleaning out the carburetor! ❑ Removes you physically from your problems. ❑ Creates improved blood flow, which can allow your brain to come up with more creative solutions to your problems. ❑ Produces natural painkillers that reduce headache, backache, and other symptoms of stress. ❑ Makes you feel as if you have more control over your body—which makes you feel as if you have more control over your life. City of Sebastian Employee Newsletter Exercise can also: ❑ Strengthen your heart and lungs ❑ Increase the level of HDL ("good") cholesterol in your blood ❑ Lower and elevated blood pressure ❑ Strengthen your bones ❑ Raise your energy level ❑ Improve your sleep HEALTH YOURSELF Do you love an alcoholic? Dear Abby: "As the ex-wife of a recovering alcoholic, I attended many Al -Anon meetings. I learned that an alcoholic is someone who puts alcohol before everything else in his or her life. It doesn't matter now much or how often the person drinks. What matters is that the person chooses alcohol over his or her family, job and other responsibilities. Alcoholism is a progressive disease, and the alcoholic becomes a master at hiding his or her behavior. All too often, his family and friends become just as good at ignoring the warning signs. Eventually, though, the alcoholic becomes careless, and then everyone is forced to face the disease and its consequent disasters. I advise everyone who even suspects that a loved one is an alcoholic to attend several AI -Anon meetings (see Alcoholics Anonymous or Al -Anon in your phone directory). Your questions will be answered, and you will receive nonjudgmental support. The members of Al -Anon have been through it all. They can offer their firsthand experiences and help you get your life back in order—with or without the alcoholic's sobriety. There are chapters worldwide, so don't delay. Help is available." —Signed, Lived to Tell About It "There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink. (An alcoholic spends his life committing suicide on the installment plan, that is, he drinks like a fish but not the same thing.) » —Booth Tarlangton "Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will." —Jawaharlal Nehru SAFETY! `MONDAY. MONDAY...' ■ More workplace injuries occur on Mondays than on any other day. Injury rates go down as the week progresses. ■ Possible causes for Monday injuries include... • "Wild weekends" • "Weekend Warrior Syndrome" (too much exercise on weekends and too little on weekdays) • Relaxed muscles that haven't been warmed up to do Monday's tasks • Negative attitude ("I dread Mondays") • Fatigue (too little sleep) • Mental preoccupation (e.g., thinking of the past weekend instead of the work at hand) • Carelessness (forgetting routine safety procedures) ■ Ideas that can help... • Try to finish big projects by Friday. • Spread your exercise out throughout the week (i.e., don't exercise only on weekdays or only on weekends). • Get enough sleep on the weekend. • On Sunday evening, prepare for Monday morning (e.g., set out breakfast dishes, pack lunches, set out money and bookbags, choose cloths) so Monday morning is not rushed. —Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor SUMMER SAFETY ■ Don't drink and dive—or swim. ■ Never dive off the shallow end of a pool or into unfamiliar water. These are a leading cause of paralyzing injuries. ■ Never swim alone; supervise children's water activities. IS Make sure backyard pools are fenced and have self- closing gates. Know how to do CPR ■ Try to avoid sun between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Wear (and reapply) a sunscreen whenever you're outside. ■ Always wear your seat belt – near home and on long trips. ■ Always wear a helmet on bikes, motorcycles, and skateboards. ■ Protect yourself in tick infested areas (watch media reports). ■ Take a U.S. Coast Guard safety course before boating. ■ Take a first–aid manual on all hikes and trips. ■ Use common sense around lawn mowers, grills, and fire works. ■ Find ways to cool off during hot, humid weather. Heed media warnings. ■ Never leave pets or children in cars on hot days. —Source: Hope Calendar City of Sebastian Employee Newsletter Bits And Pieces General Eisenhower used to demonstrate the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He'd put it on a table and say: Pull it and it'll follow wherever you wish. Push it and it will go nowhere at all. It's just that way when it comes to leading people. Leadership isn't something that comes automatically just because you have people working for you. Leadership depends on followers. If people don't follow a manager's lead voluntarily -if they always have to be forced -that person is not a good leader. What do you think the "job" of leadership really is? Is it to tell those who work for you exactly what you want done... and to stay on top of them until they do it? If that's how you see your job, you don't have the viewpoint it takes to lead successfully. Leadership depends on the ability to make people want to follow -voluntarily. Do you think most employees need to be goaded and prodded to do what you want done? Threatened or reprimanded, if necessary? People who are successful leaders don't think that way. They work to inspire people -to make them want to cooperate. Managers who prod rather than lead rarely get the best out of those who work for them, because people who work for prodders have no incentive to do more than just get by. They only want to keep such a boss off their backs. Effective leaders know that they get the best efforts out of people by working with them.. by helping them to do their best ...by showing them how to be more productive. Most people want to do a good job -as long as someone appreciates their efforts and encourages them. That's where good leaders put their greatest effort -to show people that their work is valuable and appreciated. Leadership requires faith that your associates will always try to do their best. And if some of them don't seem to be trying hard enough, the smartest thing is to investigate -find the reasons why -and then try to overcome whatever it is that's preventing them from doing the most they can. There may always be a few people who have to be watched and occasionally reminded to get on the ball. But the fewer the better. The need for too much pushing usually indicates too little leadership. " The question, "Who ought to be boss?" is like asking "Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?" Obviously, the man who can sing tenor. Henry Ford "Not to decide is to decide." Harvey Cox Good Idea! Stanley Arnold was a man with million dollar ideas. Some years ago, Arnold was managing one of his father's 15 Pick -N -Pay stores in Cleveland, Ohio, when a blizzard hit town. The city was paralyzed, and all 15 stores were empty. Employees who had reported to work didn't have much to do—until Arnold came up with his idea. He had the employees make snowballs -7,900 of them. Then he had the snowballs packed into grapefruit crates and transported to a deep-freeze facility. Then he asked the Weather Bureau when he could expect the hottest day of the year. They told him mid-July. Armed with this information, Arnold took a train to New York and went to see Charles Mortimer, then president of General Foods. He proposed a joint promotional sale of General Food's newly introduced Birds Eye frozen foods. The sale was to be held in mid-July, and young Mr. Arnold wanted General Foods to provide an array of prizes. The sale was to be called "A Blizzard of Values". As his contribution, Arnold proposed to give away snowballs. General Foods agreed to cooperate. Summer came, and it tamed out to be 100 degrees on the sale date. Police had to be called to control the crowds. During the five days of Pick -N -Pay's `Blizzard of Values", some 40,000 General Foods samples were given away, along with 7.900 grapefruit -sized snowballs. Thousands of customers were introduced to the new products, and the food industry discovered what excitement could do for sales. 12 RULES FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE 1. Never both be angry at once. 2. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire. 3. Remember that it takes two to make an argument The one who's wrong is the one who will be doing most of the talking. 4. Yield to the wishes of the other—as an exercise in self-discipline, if you can't thing of a better reason 5. Ifyou have a choice between making yourself or your mate look good—choose your mate. ' 6. Ifyou feel you must criticize, do so lovingly;and in private. 7. When you've made a mistake, talk it out and ask for forgiveness. 8. Neglect the whole world rather than each other. 9. Never let the day end without saying at least one complimentary thing to your life partner. 10. Never meet without an affectionate greeting. 11. Never bring up a mistake of the past. 12. Never go to bed mad. —Unknown City of Sebastian Employee Newsletter