Online Magazine for Punta Gorda, Florida

front page | "city news" | resident resources | clubs | churches | classifieds | previous editions

address the transfer of the Freeman House from the Charlotte Community Foundation to the City and placed on City property, as directed by City Council.

The City Manager will be asking for a Shade Meeting to update City Council regarding union negotiations with the Police and Fire bargaining units. 

The meeting will be held Wednesday after the City Council Meeting in the Council conference room. 

We continue to receive positive feedback on our effort to clean up/maintain the landscaping on US 41.

The City Manager handed out a list of “Nevers” as follows:

NEVER SAY THESE THINGS

If you want to be considered a “star” performer, consider this list of “Nevers”.  Never say:

            “They didn’t get back to me.”  Or, “They are getting back to me.”  Both are equally disastrous.  Expecting someone to get back to you stops the actions.  Take the initiative.

            “I thought someone else was taking care of that.”  Excuses indicate a roadblock to action. Always ask questions to keep things moving.

            “No one ever told me.”  Let a supervisor hear you talk this way very often and you will have made a very clear statement about the way you work.  You operate in a tunnel, oblivious to everything that is going on around you.

            “I didn’t have time.”  And don’t bother with “I was too busy,” either.  If you find yourself saying things like this, you are writing your employment obituary.

            “I didn’t think to ask about that.”  An inability to see down the road may indicate that you lack the ability to understand and grasp relationships.

The message in business today is clear.  The only measure for success is performance.  Whatever the roadblocks, it’s your job to remove them.  If not, you’ll be perceived as one of them.

(And just for your information, I heard one of these excuses before this staff meeting was even over.  We have to retrain ourselves. 

The City’s initial Action Register was handed out.  It lists action items, who is responsible for accomplishing that item, the target date, completion date, and a column for comments.  It will be updated twice a week and sent to employees.

Human Resources handed out the schedule for the Bob Harris Presentations on Post Hurricane Stress Management.  The presentations are approximately 2 hours each and are scheduled in City Council Chambers on Wednesday, May 11^th at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and on Thursday, May 12^th at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.  Each department is to provide Human Resources with a list of employees that will be attending each session by Monday, May 9, 2005.  Bob Harris is a top notch presenter.  It was suggested that the first session be video taped, so that employees who absolutely can’t make it to one of the four sessions can watch the video instead.  The Safety Officer will video tape it. 

Human Resources would like to hold a pre-emergency meeting with all employees.  It will be scheduled soon.  We will also be working on a policy for storm evacuations/attendance at work during Hurricane Season.

There is a form on the system for justification of the new positions being requested and for reallocation or upgrades of existing positions.  The documentation telling exactly what additional work the employee is doing to justify the upgraded position is very important in order to assist in evaluation by the City Manager and Finance Department.

There are now five City Attorney candidates.  One application is from a firm, while the other four are individual attorneys.  City Council will be addressing this issue in the near future to decide the level of service for our legal area.

Administrative Services – The website team meeting will be held soon.  Please make sure the department representatives bring a list of what your department would like to see on the City’s website.

Police Department – The EOC preparedness minutes from last Friday’s meeting should be completed this week and sent to departments. 

Finance Department forewarned that Departmental FY 2006 budget meetings are being scheduled with the City Manager.  Please be prepared. 

Public Works stated that a member of the Historic Preservation Advisory Board has requested a place to store historical artifacts, such as bricks and building supplies.  We have in the past stored brick pavers at the History Park.  This area seems to be the place to store such historic items. 

The City has developed an inventory of historic structures.  Copies of that document are available from Community Development, upon request.

On a final note, we have changed the name of “Passdowns” to “Information Sharing” per suggestions from interested readers and staff meeting attendees.

City of Punta Gorda Action Register

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Comments from Marilyn Smith-Mooney....
You may direct your feedback, regarding this "City News" information, directly  to  our City Manager Howard Kunik at:  citymgr@ci.punta-gorda.fl.us .  Your feedback to him from the "customer's" perspective is, I'm sure, his most valuable measure of his own performance -- such as:  degree and speed of responsiveness, leadership style, different or new policies/procedures he institutes, etc.