Ladies and Gentlemen, lend me your ears....

The Marana Forum has been my life for the past few weeks. As my previous post stated, I was part of a team that gave a presentation to council! I think it went well, I felt like I was stuttering and said the same words over and over again, but it turned out to be really great. The council was really receptive to the idea and wanted to see a revamping of the strategic goal to have more productive and regular community engagement. I have been working on setting up the staff Forum, which is being held today!

We are holding a focus group today, for a random sampling of employees, to discuss some internal town issues. We are using this as an outlet for a "test run" of the Forum process. They had a discussion this morning about the issue and requested some of the data the Town could provide, and at the end of the day will provide tangible action plans for presentation to the Town Manager and the Human Resources Department Head, since the issue relates to her department. There was a bit of a push back this morning, beginning the conversation, but once they warmed up and had an icebreaker! the participating employees were really vocal and had some great ideas. I am really looking forward to what the outcomes are and what the ideas they come up with for the HR department.

I have been pretty swamped with this Forum stuff the past few weeks, but I am also working hard on getting all the wastewater documents in one place in a logical manner. There is always something regarding wastewater each day that I come to work, but the pile of paper is getting smaller and smaller each day. Eventually, I will get through the entire stack.

I have had my first experience with a close deadline for a project. The Town has been doing some really great clean up on I-10! So much so, that the Continential Ranch HOA wants to do a story about the clean up for their neighborhood newsletter! I have been chatting with Julie Bailey and Orville Saling about the project and the general beautification of the Town along I-10. It is really important to management that when someone drives through the Town they have a good feeling and see how great it is here. We just built that beautiful Twin Peaks interchange, and the stretch of I-10 just north of it was fairly overgrown and messy. The Town took it upon itself to clean that area up and make sure it was up to the wonderful standards the Town holds. I need to get that done tomorrow and since Julie was a part of the Forum today I was able to pick her brain about the process, which will help me with the short story.

I have been really enjoying my time with the town. I am able to be a part of bigger events than I had ever thought was possible at the intern level. I gave a presentation to council for goodness sakes! This Forum today was also big opportunity for me as well. Since no one over a supervisor was able to attend I was the only person who could participate. I was here in an administrative capacity. I set up the room, Diane helped me order the food, Ann and Laine helped to facilitate the entire thing. We got some really great feedback that is going to be contribute to helping the Town communicate information to the staff, and keep everyone on the same track moving forward. It might have been rough getting there, but the outcomes were exceptional. I hope we can do it again in the future.

Mr. Mayor members of Council

Tonight I am part of a group that is presenting a new model for citizen engagement to the Town Council. I am both really excited and nervous at the same time. I am confident that I know the information that I will be talking about, which is good. I was able to go into the council chambers and practice yesterday, making sure that my presentation loaded correctly and that the animations were right. It was nice since it made it a LITTLE less intimidating. When you are sitting in the audience the council looks very high up and scary, but when you are standing at the podium where the computer is, its not as scary. They are closer and not as high up as it looks when sitting in the audience. I am thankful for Jocelyn Bronson for helping me prepare both the PowerPoint and the set up. She and the Town Manager, Gilbert Davidson, are part of the presentation as well, which is again comforting, knowing that they will be able to jump in should I get stuck on a question or am confusing.

I will have to remember the etiquette when addressing them....Mr. Mayor, Council Member X...answer to the question. We are just asking them to direct Town staff to continue with research and planning for this new model, so its not like there will be changes to the Town Code or new Ordinances or anything....so as far as impact to the community as a whole, its fairly small. That does not mean that I am not taking this seriously in anyway. I have been preparing for weeks, and am glad that we are able to get a decision on whether Council likes this and wants to continue with it. I hope so, I think it will be a really cool new way to get citizens involved on issues that are highly important to the community.

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Keeping up with the Correspondence

I have been so busy that I have slacked in my Blogging duties. I do really enjoying keeping a log of what has been happening and the new ideas and projects I get assigned, but they do keep me from my blogging.

I am still plugging away at the wastewater document management/administration. I am able to reconcile the hard copies with the electronic versions now, and make sure everything is in one place and easily accessible. I have also been working on the contracts process for the Town and most of the skills I used for wastewater can, hopefully, be used in this arena also.

The past few weeks have been a real learning experience for me. I have been privy to details of how this municipality runs and what drives the decisions management and staff make. As a new professional, it has really been eye-opening to see these types of decisions and processes. It has also given me the chance to think things through and see everything that goes into a functioning municipality. I really give credit to the department heads and management, they maintain the mission and vision and strategic goals of the Town regardless of the area. I really think that is one of the reasons that Marana has been able to withstand the economic hardships that have plagued other cities and towns.

Vickie and I held court at the League of Cities and Town convention last week. We had an exceptional booth with give aways galore and a working traffic light! Special thanks to the guys from O&M for helping us with all the traffic themed items we used. It made it so authentic. That experience was another of which, I was really glad to be a part. I got to facilitate from design to implementation. Even thought it was just a small booth, it seemed a little like a microcosm of what I have been doing on other projects. While not doing the work solo, I have been given the autonomy to work things out on my own and bring ideas back to the table for discussion. Sometimes they are shot down, of course, but the opportunity to have that discussion is invaluable to me, just starting my career. I really enjoy being here, not sure I mentioned that before, but its true. There are really smart, energetic and motivated people here, and I would love to continue to be a part of what makes Marana successful.

Goings on

The past few days I have been busy with a ton of different things. The biggest news is that one of my projects is moving forward in the process for final implementation.

I have been working with the Town Clerk on several projects the past few weeks. One of them has been regarding the current Boards and Commissions. I have been part of an internal team working on some of the details for this new project. I put together a background report, executive summary and a presentation. I had to give the presentation to all the department heads on Monday morning. I was pretty nervous since I wanted to make sure that I explained the project clearly and did not come off as a know-nothing. I think it went pretty well. No one said that I did terrible, but who would say that...

Giving the presentation was really helpful in several ways. First, it gave me more practice speaking in front of people that I am not 100% familiar with. We gave presentations during my MPA, but those were to my friends and teachers and usually did not have any consequences rather than grades, but this presentation had real life outcomes, if the Town chooses to implement this new design. It also was meant to provide the department heads the opportunity to give feedback on the process in order to work out all the details and make sure that this program can be the best it can be. I really appreciated their feedback and I they brought up many different things of which the internal team had not yet thought. I am going to give the same presentation to another group and then to the Council eventually, so I was glad to have the practice.

I am currently working on two programs that are going to be reinstated during this fiscal year. They are very similar in that one is for citizens and the other for employees. I am currently only working on citizen program since we have not yet met regarding the employee program, but I think that they will coincide fairly seamlessly. I have been preparing schedules and background for the citizens program, and I think we can pull quite a bit from this for the employee version, so I am looking forward to getting that started next week.

I have also been working on setting up the Town's United Way campaign. I think it will be a great marketing campaign and hopefully we will have a number of employees who will be interested in giving to help others. There are several agencies that work with the United Way that provide service to Marana residents. We are looking to start our campaign in the next few months, so I will be very busy with that in the next couple weeks. They are really great to work with so I am excited to be involved with the United Way.

I have also been working on finishing up organizing all the wastewater documents. I am almost finished with the electronic documents, and then it comes to make sure that all the hard copies are in there and scanning things that are not missing from the repository. This process should not take as long since I did a lot of the work ahead of time naming things and putting them in specific folders that searching should be a piece of cake. Well that is the hope anyway. I will start working on something similar for the contracts process. Currently, the team is working on how to move forward with a successful and transparent contract management process, which will be applied to most every department. But my responsibility is to create a naming convention to be used for these contracts. I created one for the wastewater files, but these are different types of documents, and my WW convention does not apply. So I have been going through different types of files to see what is currently in the system and how they are currently named as a starting place and then when the team meets again we can come up with a final decision.

I am really enjoying my time with the Town. I feel as if I am working on projects that are meaningful and will make a difference in the management of Town business and will make things more streamlined and easier for staff. As far as the new programs are concerned, that is one of the most exciting things for me. I love coming up with new and fresh ideas to brighten up something that might not have been active in recent years. I have been doing that with my volunteer experience for years, and it is nice to use those skills in my chosen profession. I really like being in on something from the beginning and working hard to build it and see it through to fruition. There is a great sense of pride that comes with seeing something you have worked so hard on finally be achieved. I really want to be able to work on something that the Town and Marana residents will  be proud of. That they can say, "oh yeah, that really awesome program..... its in my town." Its just life affirming being excited about everything (mostly) in your chosen field. I am just having a great time! Yes, I know....giant dork.

New Project Alert!

So I might be the worst at blogging....but more likely there has just been so much going on recently that I just have not had the time to sit down and think/reflect.

I have still been working on the wastewater documents. Slowly but surely I will get through that backlog! Its amazing the records that have been kept over the past 6 years!

The HR survey I have been developing finally went out for respondents this week, which is both exciting and scary. I just hope people respond and that it is easy to use and understand. I think it will be quick and we will get some great data back.

The new stuff has been really exciting also! Last week Vickie and I attended the Arizona City/County Managers Association conference in Tucson. It is the state branch of the International City/County Manager's Association, and is a place where managers and other leaders from towns, cities and counties all over the state come for professional development. It was a three and half day conference and each day was broken up into continuing education type sessions. I really enjoyed the citizen's engagement talk and got a lot of great ideas for the new commissions system we are working on, as well as the sustainability and green government discussion. Recycling and others types of conservation is something that I am really into, not in a crazy hippie way, but a normal and reasonable way. I do not drive to work on french fry oil or anything, but I am a bit of a recycling dictator...So it was really interesting to see how, in this instance, Maricopa County was institutionalizing sustainable programs.
There were so many other lectures; pensions and retirement, ask the experts, economic update, legislative update, mobile governing, and many others. It was really cool to learn from others in the profession.

Did I mention that I have some new projects....
Well I am going to start working on something that the Town has done in the past, but due to budget restrictions had to discontinue, but they are bringing it back! I had this idea from the conference about how to generate employee buy in to reduce attrition and turn over, and that fits perfectly into the project with HR and the Clerk's office. They have a employee training program where new employees are introduced to Marana and what the Town has to offer. It is a great way to inform while promoting the Town. There is an external program also, that citizens can participate in to learn more about Marana and municipal government in general. This is so exciting, since I am the biggest government nerd out there, talking and teaching other people about it will be amazing!
The other project is similar to the wastewater project in that it centers around organization, but this time it involves the contracting process. So I will be using the same programs, but in a new way. I am learning more about the other departments; how they function and what types of work they do. It makes my rotation through CIP and Records that much more important since now I have a beginning knowledge of what they do, and I do not have to start from scratch. Contracts are unique because most of the work is done electronically, editing and revising drafts, but the most important part are the signatures and how do we remedy the signatures with the electronic versions. That is what I am going to be working on with folks from Finance, CIP, Tech Services, and Records.

I have really been having a great time here. The days just seem to fly by, and it never seems like I have enough time to get things done. I think that is real life though. I am glad to be here and feel like I am doing work that is meaningful for Marana residents. While it might not seem that way when I am sitting and sorting through documents, the end product will be significant.

Internship Update!

There has been a lot happening here over the past few days!

Vickie and I are in charge of the Marana table at the League of Cities and Towns showcase of Towns convention. Each participating jurisdiction has a booth where they present all thats awesome about their city/town. Vickie and I have been working diligently on ours. We have a theme, and have talked with some of the other departments about how to implement that design with actual materials and devices the Town uses. I think that the more authentic the booth, the more attractive and interesting it will be. I really want it to be the most popular at the convention! I think we are on our way to having a successful event.

I have also been working on getting through all of the wastewater files and documents. I was lucky enough to have two staff members help me drag and drop. Thank goodness for them! They are saving me so much time and are allowing me to focus on the other documents that do NOT even have names or assignments yet. We should have a big document party once they are all renamed and assigned to the proper folder! I know it sounds totally boring, but for a giant nerd like me...its the best thing ever!

The commissions project has been coming along nicely and I have a meeting with the Town Manager at the end of the week to go over what has been done so far. I hope that he likes it and can give us some great feedback before we take the idea to the department heads. Another thing I am nervous about!

The survey I have been creating with HR seems to be working out great. We sent it out to a test group and got some great feedback. I have been reorganizing questions and types of responses to make it that much better. I think that by the end of the summer, the survey will be implemented.

I am so excited that some of things I have been working on are coming to fruition! I have been working hard and am glad to see that my work is paying off. I don't think that would have been the case this quickly if I had worked for a large municipality. I am glad to be here, and working on these projects just reinforces that notion each day!

QT and Trico Adventures

Today was busy! I started the morning at the Grand Opening of the new Quick Trip gas station that opened on the east side of I-10 at Cortaro. There is a few QTs by my house and they are awesome, so I was really looking forward to this event. It started right at 8am and the Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting ceremony just like with the Legacy Apartments. It was really neat to see all the people who had worked on the project there to see the final result. The planning department, the Town Manager and Deputy Town Manager as well as many of the council members were there to help congratulate the people at QT for a job well done. It will be a terrific sales tax and HURF revenue generator for the Town and the State, which is great with the current economic climate. I was really impressed with how many people were there, not just for the ribbon cutting but were already there buying gas and other gas station goodies. It looks like they are going to do really well.

The other event we had this morning was the dedication of the new Trico Electric Co-Op's solar field. It is right next to the Trico building on Tangerine. This is an amazing new feature for Trico members.
NERD ALERT!
This new solar field allows members to purchase a portion of a solar panel and use the energy it generates for as a credit on their electric bill. They can buy a quarter or up to the entire panel! It allows the members to reduce reliance on "non-green" methods of energy in a cost effective manner. Here are some FAQs if you are a Trico member and want to learn more about the program. Sadly, I am not a Trico member...

The rest of the day was taken up with meetings, finishing up projects and learning about new projects. My Manrana Legends list is almost complete, I am tracking down a few more phone numbers and addresses for the lady writing a book on local legends including Marana, Oro Valley and Catalina. Should be fascinating with all the history in the area. I also met with some of the staff to begin work on finding a way to work with the United Way. It had tried to be done in the past and had some challenges, but now we are hoping to get the program reinstated and starting giving back to the community in other ways.

As the summer has gone along I have really been given the opportunity to be involved with many facets of the town. I have been able to work with HR, Strategic Initiatives, the Manager's Office, and Utilities and many other areas. It just reinforces one of the major pluses about working in a municipality like Marana; each department works directly with others on a pretty daily basis. I enjoy learning about the interconnected manner of the different agencies and be able to use other people's and department's talents toward a project. This does not seem like the norm, just another way that Marana is innovative and ahead of the game!

Busy Little Bee

I have been having such a great time during my internship!

In the past week or so I have given 2 newspaper interviews, along with Vickie. These were new experiences for me and I was glad that I had the opportunity. One was published in the Northwest Section of the Arizona Daily Star, and the other has yet to be published, but will be in the Marana Explorer. It was a great way to talk about our projects and time with the Town, while also learning how to interact with the media. I was nervous, but glad that I was able to do it also.

I have been dilligently working away trying to get the wastewater documentation under control. There are documents that go back to the IGA from 1979! Each of these needs to be identified and then filed in the appropriate area. I have created all the folders and now its just organizing. I am obsessed with getting through all the files and make sure they are right and orderly and uniform. It is almost a compulsion. I should really seek some type of help....

I also have been working on an internal HR survey for employee's skills. Researching online survey tools as well as how they work has been challenging. I was used to one system, but it might not be the best at exporting the data we are looking for. I am using one program and Vickie is using another for her emergency preparedness survey. Once the survey melee has come to a close, we will make a final decision on which system to use. I'm nervous about the survey, I programmed some logic and branching so I hope that programming works.

My other projects include a new system for Boards and Commissions, a project with United Way, a Marana "All-Stars" reserach project for a local legends book, and Vickie and I are in charge of the Marana booth for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns Conference at the end of August. There is so much going on! I am really excited about all of these projects. It makes my days really full and fun.

I have been working on trying not to get overwhelmed with one project and being able to participate in many different things has been awesome. The best part is that everyone is so supportive of you and your ideas. I had a meeting a few weeks ago with the Deputy Town Manager, the Town Attorney and other higher-ups within the Town. I was really nervous since I was presenting them with my ideas and my projects and they were amazing! Really understood where I was going and gave great feedback for how they believe the system will work. That has been one of the most rewarding parts of the past few weeks. Knowing that everyone here is rooting for you to do well (and the home team).

Vote for the Community Food Bank

The Community Food Bank in Marana is up to win some fruit trees from Dreyer's! Please cast your vote for the Food Bank and help them gain some valuable resources for our community. It just takes a second to register and then you can vote one time per day. We are in the top 5 right now, and voting ends today! Only those within the top 5 receive trees! Follow the link below.

Marana Community Food Bank

And the Beat Goes On

I have been working hard the past few days! This document management project has really grown into something much bigger than I had anticipated. I have had to get access to several programs and systems that have made it so much easier however, thanks to the Technical Services team.

I am learning how to use SharePoint and its a really amazing system. Really dynamic and powerful for working on projects. I have finished the documents I currently had access to, and will start the files from the utilities department on Thursday. That's the day of my big meeting! I have asked to have a brain storming-esque meeting to talk to the folks that are going to be using this program much more often to get their input in how they currently use it, and what changes they would like to see. I am a bit nervous since its some heavy hitters within the Town, but everyone is so nice that it will be great. I have been working trying to get through the files so I have a better understanding of what is currently there and how it is setup so I can change it to fit the new system.

I was able to go to the Open House for the Legacy Apartments today to see their ribbon cutting ceremony. It was really exciting for the developer, the development services department and the Town. Two council members, the town manager, the deputy town manager, the mayor, the Director of development services, and the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce were all there. It was really great to see the civic support for local businesses, just reinforcing the focus on being business friendly.

Tomorrow I have my last rotation, HR. I'm looking forward to it. Our HR course in school was not the best, so I am excited to get more hands on experiences. I think I am going to put together a skills survey, which will be really cool. I have done this before so I am excited to get to put some more of my skills to use here!

Documents have become my life!

So, this project could not be more perfect for me and my hyper attention to detail. Now you might be thinking to youself "self, why would a young girl be so interested in document management?"

Well, I'll tell you....
This has turned into something much more than just filing documents. I am, essentially, reorganizing the entire storage system the Town has for the wastewater fight. There are legal briefs, memos from PAG/CAAG meetings, emails between contractors and Town employees, everything the Town needs to keep up the battle with Pima County. Preserving these documents is important not only for the retention requirements of the state, but when the dust finally settles, there will be a place to find all the materials needed to begin the process of managing the Town's wastewater system.

I'm really excited to be working on something that has such long term connotations. As I have stated before, I am a huge government nerd and being able to see the files that provide the background for some of the things I have been reading/learning about for years is a really great treat for me, yeah, yeah...I know....I'm a dork....

As far as technical things, I have been working on searching on a new program that I have never used before, SharePoint, which has been an interesting experience. There is so much that I have only been able to go through and see what is duplicated and where things are located. My goal is that by the end of next week I can have the folders and hierarachy completed so we can start scanning and updating the database.

I am working on some standard operating procedures to make the transition from planning to implementation that much simpler. I hope its works out! I am nervous and excited at the same time!! Well maybe 60% nervous and 40% excited...or the other way around.

Documents Everywhere I Look!

On Friday, I started work on my summer long project. I knew all along it was going to involve the waste water situation. I am now responsible for organizing the documents into our internal system. Keeping records is vital to the strenght of the Town and the waste water fight. Making sure that all messages, resolutions and legal correspondance is properly stored makes the future much more accessible. There are plans for how the Town will grow and what has been done in the past.

There is a great need for this update. The average most recent update was in 2009. Seeing as this issue has begun to come more and more to a head, the need for this record keeping is that much more important. I have been tasked with creating an updated system for storing and recording any documents that are relevant to the waste water issue. This can be legal correspondance between the Town Attorney and those that are representing the Town, frequently asked questions, press releases and news paper articles that have run regarding the issue. There was some work done on this in the past, and the intern before me created the whole system.

There are some changes that I think I am going to have to implement. Currently, there are not enough folders or details for my taste. It would seem like creating a more user friendly system will increase the ease of searching for a specific document. It is a little overwhelming since there is so much to deal with. There are two systems and I am going to pare down to just one system that has access to both. At least that is the plan. We all know what happens to the best laid plans....

So far I am just trying to get an understanding of what documents exist, what they are labeled and what has is still in hard copy format. I am a super organized person and this project is going to test my abilities greatly! There is so much that I am not sure where to start. I am just going to take it one day at a time and see where that leads me. Wish me luck!

Water water everywhere and not a drop to recharge...

Yesterday I spent the day with the staff of the Utilities Department and their Director Dorothy O'Brien.

Utilities are and enterprise department, meaning the fees and rates they charge cover the expenses for the department. The Town's Utilities does exactly that. They give portions back to the Town's General Fund for the services the Town provides for the whole organization; human resources, purchasing, legal etc..

Water is billed per 1,000 gallons used, and I was able to go around with the Superintendent and see what the meter looks like and how it is read. They use a radial system where the technician can gather 3,500 radio signals in about 4 hours. There are two billing cycles and one guy goes out during these times to gather the water readings for all 5,500 meters within the Town's water service. The two cycles are divided up into north and south, essentially, and the online system charges the rates based on the water used by that structure. Its a really sleek and efficient system.

I chatted with Dorothy in the morning about her goals for the department and what the Town would like to accomplish. It was a lot of discussion about becoming more autonomous and having more control over their own growth, planning and essentially, destiny. This included the water infrastructure that is currently located within the Town that is served by Tucson Water or another water provider, as well as the fight for the control over the effluent that comes from recharged waste water. Dorothy would like to build up a reserve fund, much like the Town's general fund, for any upcoming projects (cough cough new waste water facility cough cough). These reserves will allow the Utilities Department to generate a bond rating that is unique from the Town and then be able to issue bonds for capital improvements.

Since Dorothy is the Director, we attended the Emergency Management Systems meeting. This was the planning stages for what should happen if a terrible disaster hit the Town. There were 15 areas, and each was assigned to the appropriate department for coordination. These coordinating agencies then will figure out how they are going to work with the other departments to make sure nothing is missed. There was a test scenario regarding a fire in Marana, which seemed to be very applicable to the times. There was discussion about how to plan for an evacuation and what steps needed to be taken to make sure people were safe and the Town continued to function.

As I said above, I was able to get a tour of some of the water facilities within the Town's system. There are several distinct systems that serve specific areas of town. It seems like the goal is to reduce the amount of systems and eliminate redundancy throughout the whole infrastrcuture. There was one system that was a "float" system where it was operated by gravity and that saved a TON of money from the Town's electric bill. I was able to see where they were working on connecting one system to another on Hartman Road. What I learned is that this was not just to serve customers, but it also opened up the capability for the shopping plaza to entice other types of businesses. The way it was currently set up, there was not enough water or pressure for a furniture store, for example, to go into that shopping center. Now that they have connected those lines they fire capacity is much greater. Something as small as that is nothing I would have thought would be a huge deal regarding development and growth. But obviously, it is and should be paid close attention to. This makes the battle for waste water that much more important.

Waste Water....where to start. I am still a little unclear about the entire process, but from what I understand after water has been recharged the Town is able to use those water credits and it does not have to go out and buy additional water credits. Example, the Town needs 1,500 acre feet. If they had access to the recharged effluent of 500 credits they would only have to find or buy 1,000 acre feet. So it saves the Town money and enables them to have more negotiation power. There are some places that have more wet water than they can handle, but need more water on paper. There is also the stipulation from law that whatever water you take out of the ground you have to put the same amount back in. This is not literal, but the credit system helps meet this requirement. So now that I have thoroughly confused you...

This was my last rotation. Well, not technically, I still have HR in two weeks, but it is the end of the month long trip through each department. I have really enjoyed meeting the staff in each department, everyone was open and friendly and I felt that I could ask them any question in the future. I am so grateful to them all for taking the time out of their days to talk with me and answer my, potentially, silly questions. It was a great experience and knowing that I can go back if I need is really comforting. Thanks so much to everyone!

The Power of the Red Tie

When Jack Welch was the Vice President of the Manufacturing division of GE, he made everyone wear a white shirt. Those that were below a certain management level could not wear a red tie. He believed that you had to earn the right to wear a power color like red.

This is just one of the lessons I learned from my time spent with Orville Saling. He is the Director of Operations and Management and Public Works. He also is in charge of the Marana Regional Airport. We spent most of the day just talking about what O&M does and the responsibilities of the airport.

O&M is responsible for all the maintenance of the facilities and public infrastructure in the Town. This means roads, sidewalks, landscaping, signs and signals, and even homeless camps. The maintenance crews fill potholes and replace broken sidewalks, stripe the roads, place or repair signs and signals, and landscape the medians and sides of the roads. These guys even do the landscaping on the interstate to increase the standard. They get some of their work orders from citizen calls of potholes or other things. Sometimes these are issues that the HOA takes care of, so if you have a complaint call them first.

I was curious how the whole process works, and when the maintenance department takes over on a project. Orville told me that when a project is being developed the Town and the developer agree on a warranty time for the project. This is usually 2 years. Meaning that during the first 2 years, once the project is completed, the developer will take care of any of the maintenance issues that may arise. There are dedicated inspectors that go out and see where potential problems may occur and keep those things in mind when anticipating the warranty turning over.

Repairs are done based on a priority system based on what is in the best interest of the Town. A small pothole on a residential street is important and will be fixed, but if there is something that is blocking traffic or causing serious accidents that will be fixed first. Roads that have schools or hospitals or fire stations all have a higher priority than those that do not.

We then went out to the airport. It is primarily a business and recreational airport. There are hangars for personal planes and capabilities for jets to refuel. When anyone famous/wealthy comes in they fly to the Marana airport, and are then limo-ed to their destination. Oprah, John Travolta, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Ted Turner have all flown into the Marana Airport. There are special accommodations made by the catering companies and airport personnel when these high profile people come down. Seeing the dirt road the limos pulled up on was pretty impressive. Only Oprah could make a municipality put in a new dirt path. In all seriousness, the airport is really cool. It is an outlet for people who are recreational flyers to spend time in the air. It is run by a Fixed Based Operator that manages the planes and the buildings, while the Town collected a percentage of the gross from the company and the fuel, as well as money from the lease. The Town does maintain the runways and taxiways. There is a master plan to expand this airport to include more room for hangars and business flights, but there is no desire to bring in commercial jet liners.

I also went through the signs and signals (see Vickie's picture of how big the street sign is) and learned about how they acquire street signs and the standards that are upheld for any sign in the Town. I also talked with Fleet technicians about how they fit into the whole department, by keeping up on the maintenance of any vehicle in the Town. They were working on a police motorcycle when I was in the shop.

My favorite part of the day was talking with Orville about his time with Jack Welch. They both started at GE at the same time and Orville worked with him for years. Orville was one of the first people to conduct a GE workout for problem solving, one of the most renowned methods in management! Learning about management from someone like Jack Welch is invaluable. Orville has taken Jack's hardline style and relaxed it quite a bit for his own career. Orville still believes in the 10-80-10 theory that 10% of people are with you and should be nurtured, 80% are meh about anything, and 10% should be eliminated because they can cause problems within an organziation. These are things that I have studied and chatting with someone who was there on the front lines was amazing!

Orville has done a lot of stuff with environmental auditing and was even a co-writer of Title IV of the EPA!! Part of the Clean Air Act. We are talking some serious talent here.

Lessons: make sure to eliminate muda (waste) in your organization and make your processes poke yoke (mistake proof). Problem solve in the immediate future and try to be predictive for the long term management of your organization.

Here is a quick PPT on GE and the tools they use for management.

From Traffic to Tangerine

Yesterday was my day with the Engineering Department. This is a division of Development Services and is supervised by the Town Engineer, Keith Brann.

I started out the morning with Keith discussing the flood plain map, which will go into effect on Thursday June 16! Citizens have been informed that their land might be in the new flood plain, but the changes only affected 3 square miles. This came out of a vigorous debate with FEMA in order to determine an adequate and fair flood plain distinction. FEMA wanted to just assign a broad swath of land without the specific distinctions and the Town was able to fight to get the best representation of what the water might actually do. It seems like that action set a precedent for other jurisdictions to be able to negotiate their flood plain assignments with their own survey and study data. There is a lot of water issues that the Town has to worry about and the flood plains and watersheds are very important. These can impact the homeowner’s insurance and FEMA collects new flood insurance premiums. There are some thing the Town is working on to get some areas of out the flood plain, like the wall around San Lucas. 

I went with Keith to the Development Engineering Staff meeting early in the morning. In that meeting I felt that I got a good overview of what responsibilities the department has. They focus on drainage, the Tangerine expansion, private construction, grading, environmental issues, traffic issues and plans review. The development engineers work with a project from the beginning, remember those development coordinators and pre-application meetings, these engineers are involved in those as well. They provide their best engineering judgement when it comes to plan reviews and new development. These guys are involved in any type of building from residential to commercial. The environmental engineers make sure that development is compliant with any federal regulations. Things like USDA, Army Corps of Engineers, and Endangered Species lists. These engineers look more at the big picture rather than at an individual residence. They also work as the liaison for CIP and the Federal government.

The final area is Traffic Engineering, and I spent some time with Fernando Prol, the division manager. He gave me a great overview of what his division does and how it fits in with the rest of the organization. He and his team put together studies of traffic trips and the impact that those travelers have on the roads. They make recommendations for new infrastructure for private developments and subdivisions. The traffic engineering does this same process for capital improvement/public projects. They also respond the citizen reports and conduct studies on speed zones, traffic circles, school zones, and multi-way stops. There are so many variables and different ways that these reports can be interpreted, so usually the engineer sticks to what was originally agreed upon in the plans review. Fernando gave me a map of how the traffic was re-routed after the Twin Peaks Interchange was completed. Traffic was reduced on Cortaro by almost 10,000 trips!

The second half of the afternoon I spent in a design meeting for the Tangerine Corridor that mainly dealt with drainage and the movement of the road, once the project gets initiated. This meeting has representatives from Oro Valley, RTA/PAG, the Pima County Flood District, and the consultant hired to conduct the engineering study. This was very technical and some of it went over my head, but they are worried about the huge watersheds that will run right over the road. There is concern about what to do when these have a 100 year flood. There was discussion about the size and materials needed for the culverts and how to best get animals across the road. 

These were some of the most impressive people I have met (everyone here is crazy smart). Determining flood plain and culvert dimensions for all different scenarios was extremely detailed and the ladies and gentlemen in the engineering department know it all. What I gained from this is that reinforced concrete (steel encased in concrete) is the best material to use, and a 100 year flood is a probability of rainfall during the current year, not that a flood like that will happen every 100 years. Lesson learned.

Parks and Rec

Parks and Rec!

Yesterday I spent with Tom Ellis, the Parks Director. He is much more friendly and conversational then Ron Swanson. 

We began the day with introductions to what Parks and Recreation does. These are essentially two different entities. The Facilities and Maintenance department and the Recreation and Programming department. The facilities are the folks out there aerating the grass, making sure its green and beautiful, sticking with the Town's strategic plan. They keep the sidewalks clear of debris and weeds out of the grassy fields.

The Programming department put on the classes and activities for all ages. They vary from youth to adult actives and some are in conjunction with the Libraries in the Town. The program guide for the summer has been published and has all the programs from Sports Camps to Zumba and Cooking Classes. There are even senior specific programs at the Senior Center. They were having a BINGO game when I was visiting. That center is so great! There is a dance room with mirrored walls and halls for pool and dominos. They were going to play Mexican Train later in the afternoon. These programs are really meant to act as a complement to the programs provided by the local schools. The end goal for most of these is to begin the program and then pass it along to a non-profit or other entity to continue to run. This seems like a great way to innovate and provide a variety of services for Marana residents.

Tom took me to each of the parks in the Town. We started at Ora Mae Harn Park, which has the municipal swimming pool. I used to swim in HS so it was really great to see where I could keep up that habit in the Town. This was one of the oldest parks and since Parks and Rec values shade the large trees were really helpful in that regard. Later on driving down Camino de Manana I was able to see the bike/walking path where the trees were just planted, with the end goal being a shaded walking area.

When developments are planned they are charged Impact Fees for utilities. The Town has provided the developers with the ability to have those "waived" if they put in a public park that would equal the value of the impact fees. Most of the developers have done this and that is where the Gladden Farms, Continental Ranch and San Lucas parks come from. Each of these has grass and baseball fields, even a concession stand, that can be used by the public. There is a process for reserving fields and ramadas but the cost is minimal. These were great places to have family reunions or kids birthday parties. I spoke with Tom specifically about the landscaping and how to preserve water and open space when building a park. He said that the department tries to balance the green areas for kids to play, since the homes have smaller yards, and only put grass where it has to be, a soccer field for example. He was also very interested in making the areas mixed use. Instead of just having one grassy area for baseball and another for soccer, they parks have started to be designed in such a way that a removable fence can distinguish between the two sports fields.

Crossroads park at Silverbell is an AMAZING park! It shares the area with a library, which has beautiful glass windows that look out onto the Santa Cruz. These are tons of fields and benches, a dog park and some really cool climbing equipment. Tom raced me to the top of this cable cord structure, and I think he let me win. This park also has the remains of an old farm community, which has been fenced off and will have placards in the future describing what is within the fence. I thought it was super cool that not only were these areas preserved, but they are going to be used to educate the community about the area.

What I also thought was really neat was the extensive trail system that is maintained (and improved upon) by the parks department. We went and visited the site of a new trail head up by the Ritz-Carlton that is open to the public. These trails go through Cochie and Wild Burro Canyons, with the longest trail being 6.3 miles. They go all over the Tortolita Mountains and will give great vista views to anyone who wants to go up there. Tom just took a group on a moonlight hike. I can't wait to have some time to check out one of the trails, probably once it gets cooler.

There was so many great parks and activities that I had no idea were taken care of by the parks department. If you have a kid that is interested in a sport have them check out the week long camp that the parks put on. If I was 6-15 years old I would totally want to do the stuff the parks employees are providing!

CIP!!

The Capital Improvement Projects Division is a subsidiary of the Public Works Department. The mission statement is:

The Capital Improvement Program Engineering Division is committed to continuously improving the infrastructure of our Town with the safe and efficient flow of vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic for the Town of Marana’s residents.

Capital Projects are non-recurring (long term) expenditures that are over $100,000 and will last at least 5 years. There have been quite a few in the past few years in the Town including the Twin Peaks Interchange and the expansion of Camino de Manana. Twin Peaks was a collaboration between the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Town and some other entities. I’m sure no one can say that it does not help their drive in some way if they live out here. It connects Dove Mountain and the Continental Ranch area, making Marana more cohesive and I-10 less obtrusive.

I went around in the morning with Scott Leska, an engineer and project manager. He oversees projects that are in construction making sure they are structurally sound. We went to a meeting in the morning about a new capital project investment for the Town. This was just in the simple beginning stages of development and the meeting was meant to be informational to the group could take the next steps towards determining funding and necessity. At this meeting were staff members from Finance, the Manger’s office, Engineering and, of course, CIP. It was just another example of how the different departments across the Town really do work together constantly. This was something that I really was excited to see, and makes me happy being an employee of the Town. Knowing projects bring the various aspects of the Town together so all viewpoints are understood is a great way to conduct government business. I was able to go to a lunch at the Operations Center and chat with some of the maintenance guys. They are the ones out there working on fixing roads and lights and other facilities type problems. They are some of the most important people in the Town. Keeping Marana beautiful (and functioning).

After the meeting, Scott took me on a tour of the large projects that the Town has recently completed. These included Twin Peaks/Camino de Manana, the Tangerine Farms/Road expansion, and the Marana and Sandario Road repaving. We talked about the process from inception (find your totem) to completion. He then took me to chat with Ryan Benavidez, the Assistant Public Works Director.

Ryan was able to give me a great in depth understanding of how a project comes to fruition. It all starts with the TIP, or the Transportation Improvement Plan. This is put together by the Pima Associations of Governments and the Regional Transit Authority. This is a 5-year development plan for all the jurisdictions in the region. This includes Pima County and the Tribes. Ryan will get a Call for Projects from PAG looking for things to include in the 5-year plan that they put out. He then collects projects from various departments and submits them. These projects have usually been discussed and are on the radar, the financing has been drafted and they are now looking to the RTA for assistance. In order to receive funding from the RTA, the project has to be on the TIP. Therefore, the Town can put something on the list and then not receive any funding if they cannot get the right votes. There is only a certain amount of money and it is a zero sum game with the other jurisdictions. Each is guaranteed a percentage, but there can always be something worked out. What I thought was interesting was that the Town (or other jurisdiction) has to put where they are going to get the money. Whether it is from local sources, or HURF (highway user revenue fund), bonds etc…are all included on the submitted project. Usually, some of the funding has to come from the local jurisdiction. There are very few that will be funded entirely by the RTA.

The projects are complied and then sent to several approval agencies, the Transportation Planning Committee and the Technical Management Committee. This review process even includes a public hearing. Here is a flow chart of how the process works.

Ryan and I also discussed how contractors are chosen and how the method changes for different projects. The main two ways are what is called Low-Bid or Construction Manager at Risk. The low-bid process means that the Town has to accept whichever company comes in with a reasonable bid that will complete the project. He said these tend to be used for something that is simple and will not require too many change orders. These change orders drive up the price and the contractor can point out items that require changes from the initial plans, which cost money. An example would be a long stretch of sidewalk would be done low-bid since there would be little chance that anything would need addressing.

The other method, CMAR, is founded on relationships and qualifications. The Town will put out a request for proposals and then review those that are submitted for the best contractor that can do the job. These contractors are usually brought on during the planning process starting at the 30% mark. This allows the engineer and designer to work with the contractor to see if the project can be completed successfully. These contractors and the Town negotiate a Guaranteed Maximum Price and anything that goes over, that is not initiated by the Town, is on the contractor or pay for. This reduces the liability from the Town’s perspective. Camino de Manana only had one change order and it was from the Town. That project was CMAR and was able to save the Town about $1.6 million!

The lesson I learned from the past few days is that it takes a lot to get something built in a jurisdiction. Even thought it seems like things are popping up like weeds, there is a lot that goes into the process for both private and public development. The Town has gotten really streamlined at how the process works and will continue to grow successfully once the economy starts up again.

Permits and Inspections and Planning....Oh MY!

DISCLAIMER: I am really into the things that development services does, I will probably get really excited about telling you what I learned to the point of obnoxious. You have been warned.

The past few days I have been with the great people who make up the Development Services department of the Town. Development Services include those things that make private development possible. While it is different than what I talked with Josh Wright about (he focuses on relationships) it is a vital complement to what Strategic Initiatives works on. This department conducts all the tactical and operational needs of private development. If you want to build something within the Town limits, whether it’s a Wal-Mart or a wall around your house, you have to go through the Development Services folks.

The process starts with the Pre-Application meeting with various members of the Town staff, but an important member of this meeting are the Development Coordinators. These are two ladies who organize the entire process from review to permitting. Now, I thought that you would have to get a permit first to do anything. Actually! You get the permit at the end of the process. This Pre-App meeting informs a builder or developer of what they need to do and bring and provide to the Town in order to complete construction. These meetings set the ground work for the future of the project. After this meeting the developer then does their first submittal of plans. These are taken by the development coordinators and distributed to the appropriate agencies; environmental quality, planning, building, etc...all these agencies or departments have the ability to submit comments back to the developer who then can change and resubmit their plan. After all the groups have put on their stamp of approval then the developer can start the permit application. There are sometimes when the permits are applied for before these things, but not usually and they are not issued without that process.

The permitting system is so vast! You need a permit for everything! Which I'm glad for. I would not want someone to build something next to my house or road or anything without having a professional person review the plans. These plans and permits become public record and Tim Mattix is the Manager of these. Hope Rodriguez showed me the system they use to follow and keep track of the permits from application to final close out. During my time with the Development Services I was able to see this whole process first hand. Tim really wants to make the permit center as business and customer friendly as possible. Making it a one stop shop for anyone who wants to do private business in Marana. This is a really big feat, there are a lot of moving parts that go into these developments and one project can have as many as 40 different permits! I think this is a great way to manage the permit center, especially due to the commitment the Town has made to be more business friendly and accommodating to new development and growth. Good Luck Tim!! If you have a current open permit you can check out the status of that here.

My afternoon was spent with the Planning department. This is also the Zoning department, which is usually how jurisdictions organize, they just do not call is P&Z. I chatted with Brian Varney, a planner for the Town. I was able to look at submitted plans of specific projects. I looked over a commercial development, a master plan type development, a native plants plan, and a residential plan. These were all unique. Brian and the other planners make sure that these design plans fit with the design ordinances and codes the Town has implemented as well as promoting the welfare of citizens.

This was the area that I was particularly interested in. Along with Economic Development and Capital Projects this is the area that has a lot of influence when determining the direction of the Town’s growth. This is the area where plans for new developments get approved in that they meet lighting ordinances and are not designed to just be cookie cutter houses. Marana is really forward thinking in this sense. These regulations apply to commercial and industrial buildings as well.

The planning department also makes recommendations to the Planning Commission who is the advisory group to the Town Council. All development in the Town is approved by the council and the Commission gives them a suggestion as to approve or deny the plans. Once the plans are approved the process moves to the Building Department for the actual vertical construction.

Planning is also responsible for the zoning in the Town. There are specific types of buildings that can be placed in specific regions based on these zones. NERD ALERT! Marana has a hierarchical zoning system. There are three basic types of zoning, commercial, residential and industrial. Within these areas there are different levels High Density Residential, Heavy Industrial etc…If a piece of land is zoned at a higher level a builder can put up anything that is in the lower zoning levels. If a developer wants to change the zoning however, they have to complete a proposal for why and what they are planning on doing with the land if it is rezoned. They also have to show what that rezoning will do to the land watershed and grading etc… This was fascinating, not sure that I can portray it as well; you should talk to Brian about it. Here is a mapof the Town zoning.

I was able to talk to Director of Development Services Kevin Kish for a few minutes to discuss future growth and the General Plan and how development and strategic initiatives fit together to make a better Marana long term. This led into a discussion with Cynthia Ross about the General Plan and long term planning, which she is focused on. We talked about how she put together all the information in that plan, and the way that it has been divided into themes for the Town to follow. This along with the Strategic Plan are the driving force for the growth of the Town. They are both well researched and laid out plans, which provide a resident with the direction the Town is going. Check them out!

The second day I was with the Building Safety Department and went around with George Gleeson doing building inspections. He is given a schedule from the permit department to review a site and decide if it meets the codes. He is the most well versed person I have ever met in how something should be built and what the codes require. Now these codes are practically universal, in case you were wondering because I had no idea. He can look at some construction and know that it is 8 feet long with the right width piping and connections in 2 seconds. It was pretty impressive. So we went to the Sargent building and Lasertel both of which are going to be awesome inside. The new Marana Health Center, that is almost nearing completion. The new Legacy apartments and the remodel of the Target on Ina, most were not finished, but I was able to see the site and how he determines if he is going to approve the work and make it a partial completion or say that its not ready yet.

The second half of the day was spent with the smartest people! They are the plans examiners. Benny Sanchez, Manny Carrillo and Paul Froehlke. They take the plans submitted to the development coordinators and review them to see if they make sense. They look for electric and water connections, if the building has enough power for what the builder intends to use it for, are the lights the correct bulbs…all kinds of things! And they do calculations to make sure that the beams will support the weight of the roof! It’s the hardest job I could ever imagine having. It is super impressive what those guys do each day. They went through, briefly, a set of plans with me so I could see what they look for. We had a nice chat about waste water planning and how that will affect their jobs; should the Town be able to provide waste water services.

Again, spending the time with this department the past few days was overwhelming, but in an awesome way. Seeing how development comes about, and how decisions are made on what something will look like are things that are important to me, and to the health of a Town. By having people that are smart and with it reviewing plans there is less chance that something terrible will happen and that the Town will continue its commitment to community beautification. Thanks for the taking the time to sit with me and talk about what you do and how you do it. I hope that it came across that I was fascinated, and kind of jealous, of the job you get to do each day! I’ll stick with my MPA though.

Lights and Sirens

Sorry for the delay....there is so much to see and learn about in Marana PD! I spent Monday and Tuesday over with them and probably did not even see 2/3 of the great services they provide the Town. I was able to chat with the records department, get a tour of the new police department building (including the Crime Scene Unit), sit in with the dispatchers, ride along with an officer, chatted with the Chief, a Sergeant, a Detective, and the Crime Analyst! Each one of these jobs is vital to protecting Marana citizens and I am thankful for them taking the time to talk with me, and for the fact that they are there at all!

I started the tour meeting with Betty Horrigan who is the Records Unit Manager. She does most of the reports that need to go to the Federal and State governments and to other law enforcement agencies, or just reports that the Town might need. She uses the database that the Town Clerks office has as well to supplement her data. They are working on making this whole process more digital and reducing the need for the large storage space. While, of course, they keep permanent records for homicide cases there are some records that have to be kept for 99 years! Geez, who is going to be around to shred those documents? Betty oversees the clerks who help citizens who come in that need to get their car out of impoundment, get fingerprinted etc… They also answer phones and any questions that might arise. They are the public face of the administrative side of the police department.

I then went on a tour of the new police facility that it attached to the Marana Municipal Complex. (It’s really nice that all the services are located in one central place, Courts, Police, Development Services etc…). I was able to walk through the evidence room and the Crime Scene Unit. The storage system is so organized! Shelf after shelf of case files and evidence that is associated with each one…it would get exhausting trying to keep up, but those men and women over there do a great job.

Then I went up to the dispatch area. There were two dispatchers, Grace and TJ. At first I just sat and watched what they were doing. How the phone calls came in and how they redirected them to either a department or a police vehicle. They are responsible for most all of the calls that come in, not just 911. They respond to the inquiry or problem on the other end and the redirect the best they see fit. They know what questions to ask and what code goes with what problem and then send out the right officer. It was pretty impressive. They have massive computer station with five monitors each on presenting something else, location of the vehicles on patrol, phone numbers, maps of the area; you name it they can find it! They also act as support for the officers on patrol. They can ask to run a license plate or something to find out more information about someone they stopped. They have an awesome system over there!

For the rest of the afternoon I went on a ride-along with Officer Larkin. She is a newer officer, only in the department for 2 and half years, and she was great to talk to. Not only did she answer all my questions, which I’m sure was tedious; she also was able to give me a female perspective, which I appreciated. We talked about how she sees the Town growing and where policing needs are going to be.

We made one traffic stop, a guy was speeding down Tangerine, and we responded to an alarm going off in Dove Mountain at an AMAZING custom home! She told me that she likes to get to know the managers, workers and neighbors of the area she is patrolling just in case anything should happen they know to contact her. It was really reassuring knowing that there are professional and dedicated officers policing the Marana streets, not that there was any doubt of that beforehand!

PHEW! That was just day 1…

One the second day it was much more discussion. I talked with Sgt. Steve Johnson who is an incident committee member, which means he works on emergency management and disaster planning type things. We talked about how the Town prioritizes what types of disasters can occur and how to be proactive should something horrible happen. He also has the responsibilities of a commanding officer of 7-10 patrol officers. This means he handles complaints or disciplinary action that might come arise and reviews their paperwork before it goes into Betty’s storage rooms. He gave me some great advice of how to keep safe in my regular life also. Keep your keys in your hand and get off the cell phone while walking home ladies (and gentlemen).

I next sat with Judy Capen who is the Administrative Manager for the department. She does all the admin things like paying bills and submitting things to the Finance Department, processing time off requests…things like that. She told me about the awesome volunteer program the department has. She said there are about 50 people that are trained and come out to events to help direct traffic, block off roads, fingerprinting, and neighborhood watch programs. They are trained by a sworn officer and are there to help keep their community safe, which I thought was great. Not to mention that they are helping to keep costs down (sorry, that the bureaucrat in me). Judy is also the Arizona Public Safety Retirement Board Secretary and we talked quite a bit about the retirement process and approvals and benefits.

Then came the big time…my sit down the Chief Terry Rozema. We were able to talk about his new plan to move towards more “community policing” meaning that the officers are out and getting to know the managers and workers (nice job! officer Larkin) and beginning in July officers are going to be assigned to the same area when they come to work, to help build up trust between officers and residents should anything happen. He just wants to make “reasonable decisions.” Does what you are asking for, both budgetary and administrative, make sense. This is how I would run a department as well. I think it mandates more accountability and responsibility, which will then increase the service provided. We had a great talk about why we do what we do, and that is to serve the public, whether you are an admin person or a sworn officer, you are there to provide service. Ok, off the soap box.

We talked about the Town’s strategic plan for growth and how policing and safety fit into that, and also about recruiting practices including how to get the best officers to come to the Town. (Why they would not want to it beyond me). He is having a more active role in the day to day of the officers, producing videos that are sent out relaying his message for the department. He is doing all these things, in only 5 months mind you, in order to get the department up to what he thinks it should be. While it is currently great, there is always room for improvement and he gets it.

I spent the afternoon with Janice Moser, the crime analyst and Det. Joe Castillo. Janice has probably the coolest job. She works with data and maps to predict where crime has the potential to happen. She develops targets for prevention and increase patrol in order to reduce crime! She made me want to go back to school and get ANOTHER master’s to do her job. It was really awesome to see her modeling and mapping and charting the crime statistics for the Town. She also helps the detectives searching for suspects and linking them to other crimes, so they can be prosecuted by the County Attorney. She said her job is all about helping to make decisions. Could not be more true! Her maps helped prevent some truck thefts!

Detective Castillo and I sat for a while discussing how his job differs from other sworn officers. He was working on collecting evidence for some sensitive cases in order to bring them down to the Count Attorney to present for trial. They have a hard job getting interview data and searching (using Janice) for suspects. They will not take something downtown unless they are sure the suspect is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. They are hard working and have a lot of cases going at the same time, making it that much more difficult.

I just want to say thanks again to the men and women I met in the department. Criminal Justice was not an area that I studied in school and they gave me a crash course in community policing. Public Safety takes up a large portion of the general fund budget and it could not be more worth it to have people like those I talked with.

The Chamber

On Friday I spent the day with Ed, Kathy and Lizzie who are the entire Chamber of Commerce staff! It is amazing the amount of work they have to do and it's just the three of them! The Chamber functions as the Voice of Businesses that are located in Marana or those that want to/already do business in Marana. I got a taste of this at the networking breakfast I attended on Tuesday. The Chamber provides an outlet for the business community to expand and access additional resources. They also put together a review of legislation to show what is important both from the Town's perspective as well as the business community's.

The Chamber works to reach out to businesses after they have decided to locate in Marana. While Josh's department does not actively go recruit businesses, he is involved in the planning before the business has made the decision to locate here, while the Chamber provides resources after. This help includes how to get permits and what contact should be made with the Fire District. It seems like a great relationship between the Strategic Initiatives Department and the Chamber.

The Chamber is run by a Board that is made up of both large businesses and smaller businesses. About half of the board members are small business owners, and that helps to keep balance. They are there to be objective and listen to any issues that arise within the community and present a way to resolve some of the issues, if applicable. There are no term limits and they conduct interviews for finding new members.


There are monthly breakfasts and lunches to bring members together for networking and to introduce new members. They also give Informational Sessions about the community as well as specific business courses. One of the most exciting things is that they plan international trips for the business community to reach out to other nations. They are going to China this year!

While I was visiting I was able to sit in on an advertising meeting discussing some in-kind benefits the Chamber might be able to receive, and was able to work on their website. They are looking to update the website so I sat with Lizzie and talked about how to make sure the sponsors names appear clearly and at the top, and how to reduce the drop downs and make it more reader friendly.

I really enjoyed my time with the Chamber, they are very friendly and very good at what they do. If you ever need any information about something to do in the area check them out! They are also a registered visitors center!

It's the Quality of Life, and it moves us all......

Strategic Initiatives involves several different focus areas in the Town. It was newly created in February and houses Economic Development and Tourism, Intergovernmental Affairs, Special Events, Communications and Marketing, Strategic Planning, Heritage, Arts and Culture, and Performance Management. PHEW!

Josh Wright is the director and he has the special events coordinator, the public information officer and soon to have a graphic designer and analyst all under his department and does all of those jobs! It is pretty impressive!

We started the day at the Kino Pima County One Stop Center that is down on Ajo. This is a resource for people who have either been laid off or are trying to get a new job. They have classes teaching resume building and other general skills including getting a GED. We toured and saw the classrooms, computers and the books of job descriptions, and the people that work with DES to get people their unemployment benefits, or to help them understand their benefits. These resources are two tiered, there are core services that are just for looking up jobs on the computer or resume review, but then they also have a program where it teaches people essential skills for getting and keeping a job. This are services provided for free, and in some cases allows the clients to keep their unemployment benefits while they are getting this training.If you or someone you care about needs these services, check out their website.

The rest of the day I spent with Josh and Adelina Martin, the special events coordinator. Josh and I talked a lot about how the Town has decided to tackle economic growth. The Town focuses on what is termed the “Garden Method,” which means that they are fostering the relationships that currently exist rather than trying to go out and find new businesses. The Town is totally focused on how to keep the businesses that are currently located in Marana, and the best way for them to grow. The goal is these large corporations stay in the Town and keep providing jobs and revenues. The feeling I got today was not really focused on revenues, rather the quality of life. Now, revenues are obviously important, but the driver for economic growth is more closely tied to the quality of life the Town can provide the employees of these large companies. Think about it…..where would you locate your business? In a place that has great economic incentives or a place that has great schools for your kids? These are the decisions that Josh tries to help the businesses make, and the marketing for the Town is much more focused on the “soft” things rather than money.

Marana is the most business friendly jurisdiction I have ever been around! They really want to make the Town a destination for international headquarters. This is really important since NERD ALERT! Businesses bring in homes and people; those people in turn buy homes in the Town and spend money in the Town thus driving up revenues. What I thought was really cool, was the economic incentives are not great, but they are stipulations on what some of those monies can be used for. The Sargent project, for example, had to put their incentive monies into programs that provided internships for local students, or training for their employees, and even for landscaping making I-10 look more presentable. These are ways that these businesses are providing additional benefits to the community in other ways, which is highly innovative and makes the Town much more sustainable.

The end of the day I spent some time with Adelina Martin, and was talked about several of the events that are coming up. Here is a link to the events calendar. There is something most nights and the Star Spangled Spectacular is coming up on July 4! There is so much that goes into planning these huge events, sometimes 800 people come!, and she is the guru when doing anything. The biggest plus is that most of these events are funded through other sources and sponsors rather than the taxpayer dollars. Although, these events are going to be super cool I bet people would be willing to pay for them!Keep your eyes peeled for the Founder's Day Celebration and the Holiday Tree Lighting later this year!

Tomorrow I am off to the Chamber of Commerce, and know that I have all this development knowledge I can’t wait to see how they fit into the whole picture! Clearly, I am huge dork!

The Wheels on the Bus....

I spent yesterday with T VanHook. She is the Community Development Director. She oversees grant funding applications, affordable housing initiatives, annexation, and transit. The department is kept very segmented in that each area is its own distinct entity. Her primary job is to set the goals and objectives and to help the Town with the grant process. Most of the funding is FEMA, Homeland Security, Affordable Housing and HUD, and Neighborhood Services.

There were two projects I worked on with T. The first were several transit issues. The Town is putting in several new bus stops and T is working to get these put in the proper places. We had a meeting with the Operations guys and talked about where, when and how they are going to pour concrete and put up the stops. The U of A School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to create new cool transit stops that creates designs in the shade. The other exciting news is that the Town is unveiling the new shuttle schedule on November 1!! I got to take a look at the draft from the RTA and run scenarios to see where any glitches might have been. It looks like it is going to be really helpful for those trying to get to work before 8am!

The second half of the day I spent working on neighborhood relations stuff. We went to a meeting in Marana Estates to talk to the residents about re-certification as a colonia. The Housing and Urban Development Department establishes the definition of a colonia and the required documentation to be named as such. These areas are set aside and are able to receive specific funding dollars that are not available to larger neighborhoods. There is a lot that goes into this re-certification including photos and history of the homes prior to 1990! We talked with several residents and many of them are walking history books of the area. It was really great to hear their stories and tell tale of who used to live where and how many kids they had and what color their house was.

It looks like in order to get some of the more statistical data required for the re-certification the neighbors are going to complete a survey, and we were able to solicit resident's help to administer the survey. It was really cool to see the neighbors working together to make their community a better place. This meeting was also a time where residents presented any grievances, which in this case were the same issues they have been dealing with for a while. It was nice to go out into the community and talk with people to see what types of services they wanted to have provided. They are not overly demanding (at least not yesterday) and since T knows most of them by name and address, they are more willing to be understanding that the Town is doing the best it can to get these issues resolved.

I spent today with the Court system. This was a bit different than my previous experience with the prosecutor, in that I focused more on what actions the judge was taking. I met with Sandy Celaya who is the Court Supervisor and she oversees all the staff that make up the court office. The clerks, probation officers, and the collections officials all report to her. She gave me a short tour of the court building (which is super nice) and then I went and sat in on the proceedings. The morning was much slower than when I was with the Laine Sklar last week. The cases that the judge did rule on/hear were the same type of crimes; shoplifting, domestic violence and DUI. The judge always made sure that the defendant understood what they were charged with and what the agreed to, if they took the plea agreement. He shows them exactly what the form they are going to sign looks like, and asks any questions from the case file, which I think serves two reasons. It allows him to get the story from the defendant, but also puts that information in the recording. After this, he makes sure they understand what will happen next and gives them their court date. Most of them are so scared/worried that they miss some of what was said. He does a great job of making people feel comfortable while still remaining an imposing figure of the law. This day just reinforced my lesson of do NOT commit a crime, but followed it up with Come to Court!


Today there were two special instances of the court. The first was video court, which is not special to the Town since they hold it often, but is special in the sense that it is a unique way to save money on transporting prisoners and quickening their release. There was only one case today, and it went very quickly. No one wants to spend more time in jail than they have to, I'm sure. The other cool thing about today was the Spanish interpreter that came to court today. The first Wednesday of each month is interpreter day, and the court has had people who speak all kinds of languages come in; Cantonese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Polish were just a few that I was told about. The interpreter comes up to the prosecutor and the judge when the defendant's name is called and helps them to understand what is going on. Since the judge is very committed to having them understand what they are charged with and their rights, it was really cool to see this carry across all aspects of the court.

This morning I was able to attend the Marana Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast. This was held at a local restaurant and had business owners and operators from all over the area. I was able to meet some great people and hear about all the different businesses that are present in the Town. After a speech by the sponsor company, each person had to introduce themselves and tell what they did. I thought this was a really cool way to show other people where and who they can go to for specific services. There was a lady who had gotten into a small car accident and she was going to have her car fixed by one of the other members! Marana is so business friendly in policies and codes that this supplement fit in perfectly. I am going over there on rotation on Friday and I am excited to hear more about the projects and events they have planned for the future. This is one area of local government that I am very interested in! I'm starting this area tomorrow by shadowing Josh Wright, the Strategic Initiatives Director. We are going to take a tour of the Pima County One Stop, should be awesome!

My day with Marana's Bravest

On Friday, I spent the day with the Northwest Fire District. This was the first time that the Town had sent an intern to the Fire District, and I was happy to go.

You might be asking yourself, "Why does she keep saying district? It's the Fire Department." Northwest Fire District is a distinct entity and operates under separate guidelines and Arizona statutes. They are funded primarily through a property tax imposed on those buildings that are within its boundaries. NERD ALERT! It is $2.47 per $100 of assessed value of the property. This is on the higher side. However, because they are ranked as a class 3 with the Insurance company it makes your homeowners insurance less expensive. Learning this was just the first way I found that they protect and service the homes and businesses within the district. It is the largest district in the state, and encompasses 148 square miles. There are 250 employees and 10 fire stations distributed based on quickest response time.

I met with Chief Piechura and Financial Director Dave Gephart in the morning to talk about the history, structure and budget. The rest of the day I traveled around with Battalion Chief Mike Duncan. There are 10 stations within the district, and we visited 8 of them. Each station has a fire truck and some have a rescue vehicle. I was able to go up in the bucket at the top of a 100 ft ladder. This is used for helping those that are not able to climb down the ladder. I thought I would have been more terrified, but it was fine. They strapped me in and I wore a helmet so was safe as could be.

Of course they would not let me drive an fire truck, they are specially trained for that, but I did get to go on a ride with the guys at Station 39. All the fire fighters are consummate professionals. While they were taking me out they got a call from the dispatch and immediately changed gears from jocular friendly conversation to serious business. It made me feel that if ever anything should happen there would be a pro there to help. And also that they have been very well trained.

The final thing that I was able to see was a training session for how to find a lost fire fighter. When they are in a fire they are crawling around rather than walking, and the training center had set up a course where the testee had to find their way to the hose and then work their way out of the simulation. It was really awesome to see how they would actually have acted if it was a real situation. The main point of the training was to have non-management workers experience the decision making process of the leadership during a Mayday situation.

Northwest Fire has two apparatus that are unique to any disaster situation. They were both utilized during the January 8 tragedy. One is the Rapid Response vehicle, which is used during things like swift water rescues, it even has a zodiac on the roof of the vehicle. The other is a Metropolitan Medical Response System, which is meant to act like a mobile hospital should something similar to the tornado in Missouri. These both are amazing pieces of equipment and it was really amazing to see all the supplies that are incorporated in the apparatus.

I had a great time with these guys and they showed me the best hospitality. They are brave men and women who put their lives on the line to give people the help they need. Just a quick thank you to all the guys that were there to answer all my ridiculous and sometimes silly questions. Thanks to all at Northwest Fire!

Money, Money, Money, Money......... MONEY!

Today I spent the day with the Finance Department. Erik Montague is the Director and Dot Caton is a Management and Budget Analyst. They both are CPA's and prepare the budget documents, many of which have won awards. The 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, won the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the third consecutive year! Nicely done! It is an amazingly detailed document, which includes all the financial statements for the Town. This CAFR includes the Management's Discussion and Analysis (or MD&A in budget speak) which highlights the major financial achievements of the Town. Things like where large portions of the funds went to and what projects were completed. It is a great document that can be compared to the other document I saw today the Budget Plan. This document puts together all the different department's budgets and projects what the next fiscal year budget will be. The CAFR is used to compare the Plan to reality and the Town Finance Department did a great job! Both of these documents can be found on the website here Finance.

Finance is one of the areas that I am particularly interested in, and being able to see the actual financial documents used to fund the Town was a really great experience. The thing that has always attracted me to finance is the ability to see priorities based on where the funds are allocated. Depending on what percentage of the budget a specific department gets, you can see how valuable that is to the citizens. Police and Public Safety are high priorities for the Town which is reflected in the fact that these departments take up a large portion of the budget.  It was really great seeing the theory turned into practice.

I had my first project assigned today, researching various brands for purchase in the next fiscal year. I was able to compare the operating costs across the board, and do a cost benefit analysis for the new purchase. Cost-benefit analysis is something that we do in everyday life. Is that cookie worth the extra weight, should I stay up and watch my favorite show and be tired for work tomorrow, or be well rested... I know that the decision will not be made today, but I do hope that the information I provided will give a better understanding of the details for the purchase and the right fiscal decision will be made for the Town.

Tomorrow I am going to Northwest Fire District and I am excited/nervous! Maybe they will let me drive the Fire Truck.......

The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

I have spent the past two days with the town Legal Department. They are a terrific group of lawyers who work each day protecting the town from criminals or shady business deals. I began on Tuesday in the Civil department.

Civil law deals with things that center around private companies or businesses and their dealings with the town. During my visit it was dealing primarily with development and the building of a new subdivision in North Marana. I spent the day with Frank Cassidy, the Town Attorney, while he worked on a development agreement with the new developer of that plot of land. They have been sending this document back and forth changing details and points that were in the best interest of each side. While it may seem simple since it was two entities that are trying to agree, it was much more complicated. The developer wanted specific claims and leeway that are not always in the best interest of the town. Marana is committed to growth and development, and is very business friendly, but it does not mean they are going to give up any rights to public land or facilities.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LESSON: (skip if not a total government nerd, like myself)

Some of the new developments in the town are on what are called Community Facilities Districts, which are monitored by the Mayor and Council acting as a Board of Directors. These districts are separately taxed and those funds go back into maintenance of public land like roads, sidewalks and parks. The residents of these neighborhoods are paying for their own upkeep through property taxes. Accountability and responsibility built into the system, just what a I like to see!

While these districts are great, they do complicate the development agreements just a little bit. Since they are technically a distinct entity from the town, there has to be an intergovernmental agreement in addition to the development agreement, which is all included in one document. PHEW!! As you can see there is a ton that goes into just one agreement on one subdivision.

Yesterday I spent the day in Marana Municipal Court with Laine Sklar, the Assistant Town Attorney, prosecuting misdemeanors. Well, Laine prosecuted. I observed. Vickie was on rotation with the Judge Charles Davies, so we both were in the same division of the town. While I saw how the pleas are created and agreed to, Vickie saw how the judge makes his decisions and when he makes a change.

The town does not prosecute felonies, so yesterday was primarily shoplifting, DUIs, domestic violence, and driving with a suspended license. I saw arraignments, probation hearings/updates, and plea bargains. Laine was fair and gave each defendant the chance to take her deal or take the case to trial. There were only two incidences where a defense attorney was present, which seemed to be the norm.

The probation officer was also present in the courtroom and had updates on community service, diversion course completion and other requirements defendants had to meet in order to avoid a warrant. Lesson: don’t commit a crime…

I really enjoyed these rotations. These are areas that I did not study when I was in school, and being exposed to the criminal and civil proceedings was a great experience. Learning how the laws and procedures work gave me much more insight into how the town has developed. The development agreements dealing with growth and prosecution protecting the town and keeping with stable community values.