The P3
Edge A Charlottesville Employee Newsletter Volume 4 • July/August/Sept 2015
While we never look forward to saying good-bye to people who have been with us for many years, transition periods give us, as an institution, a chance to evaluate where we are and how best to move forward. I hope all of you had a chance to wish our recently retired COO/CFO Aubrey Watts good luck on the next chapter in his long career in public service. Aubrey has agreed to work with us on a part-time basis on special projects. We will miss his presence on a daily basis but we also want him to enjoy his retirement after 52 years of dedicated public service. Aubrey’s retirement presented me with a chance to rethink the structure of the City Manager’s Office. I have returned us to a two Assistant City Manager structure. This was the model the City had when I first came to work here and I believe it will suit us well. I have promoted Leslie Beauregard and Mike Murphy to the posts. Both Leslie and Mike have given the City many years of service and are well aware of our strengths and challenges. They will be dividing operational oversight of our many departments. I am confident in their abilities to help us continue to be a great place for our residents, visitors and employees.
Starting this fall, the City of Charlottesville will participate in the third annual Innovation Academy, an 8-month leadership program developed by the Alliance for Innovation, Arizona State University, and the International City/ County Management Association.
What is the Innovation Academy? Over the past eight years, the Alliance for Innovation and Arizona State University have collaborated to promote innovation in local government. In 2013, they created and piloted a unique curriculum with six teams of participants from local governments across North America. They have since graduated 25 organizations from the Innovation Academy.
Objectives... By participating in this program, localities will learn to understand the innovation process and how to integrate it into their organization; build cross-functional teams that have the capacity to address organizational and community issues; expand organizational capacity for ongoing innovation; and learn more about their organizational culture and how to cultivate leadership. Each organiza-
tion will also undertake a project that will make a contribution to the organization and/or address a community issue.
How to Join... Recruitment is now underway for City staff interested in being a part of the Innovation Academy. We need up to 10 City staff to be part of this exciting opportunity. Maya Kumazawa (Public Works) and Jason Ness (Economic Development) have been selected as team leaders. If you are interested in learning more, please email innovation@charlottesville.org. The Innovation Academy Class of 2016 includes: Bellevue, WA; Charlottesville, VA; Modesto, CA; Durham, NC; Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Boulder, CO; Littleton, CO; Manatee County, FL; Park City, UT; N A PL Milton, GA; and Lethbridge, 3 AB.
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I hope you will join me in congratulating Leslie and Mike on their new roles and in finding ways to incorporate growth and innovation into our daily lives. All the Best, Maurice Jones - City Manager
City Selected to Participate in Innovation Academy - Seeks Recruits
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The City of Charlottesville is in a time of transition and opportunity. The past few months have seen the departures of some of our senior staff. Some have left for new opportunities and others have chosen to take on the challenge of a welldeserved retirement.
VALUE: LEADERSHIP
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A Message from the City Manager...
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LESLIE’S CORNER
A Strategic Plan Update with Leslie Beauregard, Assistant City Manager Out of all of the Strategic Plan Goals, perhaps Goal 4: “Be a well-managed and successful organization”, speaks directly to how we, as City staff, serve the residents of this City through all the programs and services we provide on a daily basis. And how we provide those services matters; for instance, have you ever wondered how our residents view the “livability” of Charlottesville and what they think about the services you provide to them every day? Every other year, the City asks residents to complete the National Citizen Survey, a tool that gives residents an opportunity to express their views about their City government. The survey measures public opinion in eight key areas of community livability. In each domain, residents report their perceptions about the quality of their community and related services, as well as their own engagement within the community. It’s a truly comprehensive look at everything we do and how a sampling of our population feels about it. The survey is intended to improve service delivery, strengthen communications with community stakeholders, and help City leaders identify clear priorities for use in strategic planning and budget setting. Let’s explore the Quality of Life facet of the survey first. What does it mean to be a livable community, and why do we care? A livable community describes the overall quality of life in a community, its ambiance, and the services that make it attractive. And as you can see from the pie chart to the right, 88% of respondents felt that the City is an excellent or good place to live. What a great testimonial to the job everyone is doing! And by going deeper into the over 40 features of the community that are rated in this survey, we as a whole are doing quite well. Other notable results include positive ratings as a place to visit (85% excellent or good), health and wellness (84%), education and enrichment (89%), and culture/arts and music (84%). Another area to explore is Governance – how well do we meet our resident’s needs and expectations? As you can see from the pie chart on the left, 77% view the quality of City services as excellent or good. To put that in perspective, only 50% of residents view the Federal Government in the same way! Over 30 services were ranked in this survey, with most being rated as either excellent or good. Overall, safety receives a wide range of positive rankings, with over 49% either excellent or good for crime prevention, and 94% excellent or good for fire services. For recreation and wellness, at least 77% gave this an excellent or good ranking. This is just a small taste of what this survey offers. There are six more facets of livability that this survey explored, including mobility, natural environment, built environment, economy, recreation and wellness, education and enrichment and community engagement. The bottom line is that this and other survey tools and results provide valuable information to the organization and the community as we engage in planning processes such as the annual budget and strategic planning.
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IMPOSTER ALERT!!
The City of Charlottesville Corporate Seal was approved by City Council on July 6, 1971. It is a seal that proudly represents our community’s rich culture, history, and beauty. However, over the years the seal has undergone a series of mutations that have made its way onto City letterhead, web pages, and other paraphernalia. The correct seal has always had a blue quadrant in the upper lefthand corner, however, some versions display a notorius gray quadrant. If you happen to spy this imposter (or others) please inform the Communications Office. We will also be happy to provide you with the correct version for web or print use. Thanks!
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New “Mass Valuation” Process Improves Tax Assessment Efficiency Did you know that businesses in Charlottesville and all around Virginia pay taxes on the value of their tangible business property? This property includes equipment, furniture, tools, and fixtures. Recently, the Commissioner of the Revenue’s office improved the internal process for handling these Returns of Tangible Business Property, making use of technology and creativity to save 64 FTE hours and increase the April tax billing by almost $200,000!
every item had to be manually entered to prompt the assessment. They were then scanned into Laserfiche (the digital document repository) with applied metadata (account number, date, tax year, document type) for customer service purposes.
erty did NOT change cost every year and that b) the important filing date information, and knowing whether a return was filed or not, was available from the digital archive. So, we switched it up.
The New Process: “Mass Valuation” - Assessments are now created in bulk based on the previous year’s reported costs and the returns that are mailed out match that information. After the returns are sent back and reviewed they are sorted into two categories: those with changes and those without changes.
The Old Process: Returns were mailed to businesses showing the cost they reported the year prior. Businesses then sent back the return reporting any changes (such as disposals of equipment and/or new property purchases during the most recent year).
Unfortunately, this old process resulted in duplication of data entry and made room for much human error, not to mention that some businesses without a filing were skipped entirely.
After an initial review, stacks of these returns were sent to data entry where
The light bulb moment occurred when it was recognized that a) most prop-
The returns without changes are sent straight to Laserfiche, where the metadata applied in the digital repository is extracted in bulk and used to update the records in the tax management system to reflect the filing date and confirm that a return was filed - eliminating 68% of data entry.
2015 Bike/Ped Master Plan Update
Goal Two of the City’s Strategic Plan - Be a Safe, Equitable, Thriving and Beautiful Community - encompasses many of the things that make Charlottesville great. Some of the efforts that support this goal are initiatives of reliable and high quality infrastructure. One of the current initiatives that works toward this goal is the 2015 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan Update. The plan presents a summary of key recommendations designed to increase safety, connectivity and comfort for people of all ages and abilities as they walk and bike around the City. An earlier 2003 plan is in the process of being updated to take into account the current needs and desires of our community. Recommendations in the draft were informed by technical analysis, best practices research, community input and local policy guidance. The 2015 Plan Update is organized around recommendations for walking and bicycling in three key areas: Facilities and Network; Programs and Policies; and Implementation. The Plan is scheduled to go before City Council for public hearings in the summer with adoption of the plan to follow. Having this plan finalized will provide a framework to accomplish community goals for bicycle and pedestrian needs. Comprehensive details on the public engagement process, level of traffic stress analysis, cost estimate methodology and policy review are available in the plan appendices. To review a draft of the plan, please visit www.charlottesville.org/bikeped.
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PHOTO ARCHIVE
Strategic Plan Goals & Values
InfoSheets!
Helpful one-page information sheets covering the ‘goals’ and ‘values’ of the strategic plan are available for your convenience! Contact Joe Rice at x3707 to request copies for yourself or for your department.
Employee Field Days 2015 Ragged Mountain Hike
Approximately 175 employees participated in this year’s Employee Field Days. The greenhouse tours, golf and hiking continue to be our most popular events. Thanks again to all of you who made these field days possible and a big thank you to all those employees who completed the survey, giving us very valuable feedback... we’ll see you next year!
Just for Laughs!
Sudoku
BRAIN-FREEZER
THE P3 EDGE EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER ©2015 Editor: Joe Rice Content Editors: Leslie Beauregard, Miriam Dickler, Caitlin Blessing Authors: Rosalind Collins, Todd Divers, Leslie Beauregard, Miriam Dickler, Maurice Jones Copy Editor: Paige Rice, Miriam Dickler Thank you for reading! If you would like to submit content for a future edition of The P3 Edge, please email p3@charlottesville.org.
HR EXTRA!
A P3 EDGE NEWSLETTER INSERT
SAVE THE DATE!
AUGUST 15 - Back to School Bash 1pm–3pm/nTelos Pavilion 18 - VBS Blood Drive 2pm–6pm/Carver Rec. 19 - Sounds of Summer 6pm–8pm/Tonsler Park 26 - OnSite Nurse 1:30pm–3:15pm/CAT Building SEPTEMBER 07 - Labor Day Holiday 09 - OnSite Nurse 9:30am–11am/City Hall 2FlCR OnSite Nurse 11:30am–1pm/Public Works Coventry Representative 9am–11am/City Hall 16 - Day of Caring 8am–4pm/Various Locations Employee Appreciation Lunch 11:30am–1:30pm/Key Rec. 23 - OnSite Nurse 1:30pm–3:15pm/CAT Building 30 - Health & Wellness Fair 10am–1pm/Carver Rec. Center Gym Membership Quarter Ends Last Day to Request LB&D Reimbursements through June 30, 2015. RECURRING CITYFIT EVENTS: Every Wednesday: Lunchtime Yoga 12:10pm–12:50pm/JMRL Every Thursday: Lunchtime Zumba (resumes Aug. 20) 11:45am–12pm/Key Rec. Weight Watchers 12pm–12:30pm/PW For More Info Call HR at x3490
JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015
Aubrey Watts Retires After 52 Years of Public Service
City Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer Aubrey V. Watts, Jr., retired from the City of Charlottesville on July 31, 2015. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Mr. Watts began his career in 1963 in the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia serving as Deputy City Treasurer, Assistant Director of Finance, Director of Personnel, Director of Public Utilities, Deputy City Manager and finally as City Manager until 1991. Mr. Watts then became City Manager of the City of Greenville, South Carolina. He joined the City of Charlottesville in 1999 as Director of Economic Development and became COO/CFO in 2002. “I really believe in service to one’s community,” said Mr. Watts. “Local government is what affects most people’s lives on a day-to day basis.” Among his proudest accomplishments, Mr. Watts listed the initiation of a longterm water supply plan in Virginia Beach, Greenville’s downtown revitalization and the development of successful partnerships through the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority. When asked of what he is most proud, Mr. Watts said the people he has worked with, mentored or “in some way” helped along their careers. “It would be impossible to overstate how much we, as a city and an organization, have benefited from his work ethic, wisdom and leadership,” said City Manager Maurice Jones. “During his years of dedicated service to local governments, Aubrey has left an indelible mark on three communities, and the State of Virginia.” In 2014, the International City Management Association recognized Mr. Watts for 50 years of local government service.
Benefits Provider Resources
Need a replacement insurance card or want to access our provider directories? By logging on to the sites below you can do that and more! Each site can provide you with not only general benefit information but in many cases, when you create a username and password, it allows you 24/7 access to your own benefit information. Log on today!
Coventry Health (800) 627-4872 member.cvty.com Delta Dental (800) 237-6060 www.deltadentalva.com MetLife Vision (855) 638-3931 www.metlife.com Cigna (800) 362-4622 www.CIGNA.com ACI (800) 932-0034 charlottesville.acieap.com ALFAC (434) 296-9500 www.aflac.com LD&B Benefits (540) 438-4130 www.ldbinsurance.com
Congratulations to the City’s Leadership Charlottesville Class of 2015 Graduates! Leadership Charlottesville is a 9-month, tuition-based program of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce. The first half of the program is spent learning the ins and outs of the community. The second half is spent working on team projects. Nearly 900 members have graduated from LC – many of whom are City employees. The 2015 class included Jeremy Evan (Fire), Gloria Hubert (Police), Trip Stakem (Public Utilities) and Caitlin Blessing (HR). Gloria’s team was chosen by the Class as the winning project team (pictured left). Her team did an amazing job branding, preparing promotional materials, and suggesting operational improvements for the Piedmont House, a halfway house for non-violent felons. Check out the Piedmont House’s website and see the results of their work. Congratulations to Gloria and her team! “The class portion of the program gave me a ton of new information about the inner workings of the community – things I would have never noticed. The team project was the best part for me. As our project team leader, I am very proud of the success working with Building Goodness Foundation and other community nonprofits. My takeaways from the program were a sense of what Charlottesville is really all about and many valuable lessons about myself and my abilities as a leader.” - Trip Stakem, Utilities Engineer Learn more by visiting www.cvillechamber.com or contacting Galloway Beck, Director of Human Resources at 434-9703490. Admission to the program requires your Department Head’s approval and a recommendation by the City Manager.
Regular City Employee April–July 2015
NEW HIRES!
Joshua Babij Erik Bailey Charles Cochran Ross Cundiff David Dawson David Dudley Brennen Duncan Whitney Gregg Chasidy Hawley Lindsey Higginbotham Kevin Imbert Christopher Jackson Vickie Jones Hawkar Kochany Harriett Love Thomas Martin Kaitlyn McKeown William Moses Matthew Murphy Sneha Nayak Jose Sanchez Matthew Schlesinger Christopher Seymore Orren Smith Joel Strauss Patrick Tedesco Peter Bagnulo Zachary Webb
Police Fire Police Police Public Works Public Works NDS Social Services Social Services Human Services Parks & Rec Parks & Rec Public Works Social Services Social Services Police Admin Police Admin Public Works Economic Dev. IT Police Comm. Revenue Police Public Works Service Admin Parks and Rec Human Services Fire
PROMOTIONS! Patrick Hagan Amy Herndon Jeremy Hoy Kevin Imbert Virgil James Jennifer Keyes Nigel Mason Katherine Mauller Morgan Minor Michelle Niesen
RETIREMENTS! Roosevelt Barbour Allen Barnette Joseph Brown Alison Campbell William Childress Early Dudley Shirley Gardner Diane Gilliland Tami Harness Joe Hughes Larry McInturff John Nowell Matt Rader Aubrey Watts
OPEN HOUSE & PROMOTION! Parks & Rec Pupil Transport Police Parks & Rec Fire Police Fire Voter Registrar Social Services Social Services Finance Police Police Soial Services Public Works Police Social Services Voter Registrar IT Fire Public Works Parks & Rec Public Works CMO
A new Weight Watchers at Work series is beginning on Thursday, September 10th and if you join or renew by the end of August 2015 you will receieve TWO FREE GIFTS! Weight Watchers Open House Thursday, August 2nd Carver Recreation Center 11:45am–12:30pm The City of Charlottesville provides reimbursement for a portion of the Weight Watchers at Work series fees (based on attendance) to all regular benefited employees. Come to the Open House to find out more!