This month we focus on all of you who work hard every day to improve the lives of Glendale residents.
During Gratitude Month, watch your email and work areas for fun surprises to celebrate your contributions! Check out the video from Mayor Jerry Weiers praising you for your dedication to providing needed services and programs in a compassionate and professional manner Your skills, talent, responsiveness and flexibility help keep our community safe, pave the way for smooth roads, provide access to affordable housing, boost economic development, deliver entertainment and so much more You are simply the best!
NOVEMBER 2024
Get to Know a Senior Planner: Page 2
Gear Up for a Heart Walk: Page 3
Find Out Who Took the Cake for the Coolest Costumes and Most Perfect Pumpkin at the GEEC Bash: Page 4
GET TO KNOW ALEX LERMA
Alex Lerma is a Senior Planner for Glendale. Watch the video to see what a day in his life looks like.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
THE
DIABETES TOOLKIT: YOUR GUIDE TO FOOD, LIFESTYLE, AND BEYOND
Join guest speaker Aubrey Uhling, RD., CDE, to learn nutrition, lifestyle strategies, practical skills and tools specific to diabetes in this Zoom webinar from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Aubrey is a wealth of information on diabetes and nutrition Her goal is to empower people to manage diabetes effectively and improve their overall wellbeing This session will be recorded
Click the link or visit the GRID calendar to register for this event.
OBTAIN FREE SCREENING FOR PROSTATE CANCER
The city is making it easy for men over 40 years old to obtain FREE prostate cancer screenings. They can stop by the Mobile “P.O.P.” unit parked in the Glendale Adult Center parking lot from 7 a m to 1 p m this day
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men in Arizona. The five-year survival rate for patients whose cancer is caught while it is still only in the prostate is 100%.
Participants should bring their health insurance card. For COG employees who are not on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona health insurance plan, the city will pay for the prostate screenings if they do not have other coverage Spouses of COG employees and community members can use their AETNA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health Net or United-HealthCare plans for the screenings or if they do not have one of those insurance plans can pay $86
Appointments are required. To schedule a screening, call 480-964-3013 or 1-800-828-6139.
MORE EVENTS TO BOOST YOUR HEALTH, FEED YOUR MIND
Join Team City of Glendale for the West Valley Heart Walk at the Goodyear Civic Square at 1900 N Civic Square in Goodyear The American Heart Association event starts at 9 a m and the walk begins at 10 a m
This family-friendly, non-competitive 5K walk encourages participants to take steps towards a hearthealthy lifestyle. There is no registration fee and fundraising is optional. If you would like to take part in it, you can find the “City of Glendale” team on the website: West Valley Heart Walk or email wellness@glendaleaz.com.
Take time to relax your mind as you immerse yourself in a sound bath during this Blue Cross Blue Shield of AZ webinar from noon to 12:30 p.m.
Rooted in a meditation style and healing art that is thousands of years old, these experiences offer the soothing sounds of singing bowls, chimes and other instruments played in a manner to facilitate relaxation and release. Tune in to this high-frequency session and let your stress and tension melt away. This webinar is open to ALL COG employees
SOUND BATH
EXPLORE HOW GIS CAN DRIVE DECISIONS
Get ready to celebrate the power of GIS during a special event with information sharing and presentations from city staff on how they use it to make better decisions and improve efficiency from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Civic Center.
It is International GIS Day and representatives from Planning, Water Services, Community Services, Public Safety and other departments will be presenting.
Learn how GIS is being used in Glendale and how you might benefit from the technology
On the third Thursday of November every year, smokers around the country participate in the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout event.
Quitting, even for one day, allows smokers to boost their health and reduce their risk of developing cancer.
COG offers tobacco cessation programs to help employees stop smoking. Visit the link below on the GRID to learn more.
GOOD NEWS IN GLENDALE
HALLOWEEN BASH IS A SCREAMIN’ GOOD TIME
Spirits were high as COG employees channeled their alter egos at the Glendale Employee Engagement Committee (GEEC)’s Halloween Treats & Costume Contest on Oct. 31 at the Main Library.
Employees delighted the costume contest judges - City Manager Kevin Phelps, Fire Chief Ryan Freeburg and Director of Engineering Don Bessleras they paraded across the stage dressed in a variety of creepy, cute and funny outfits. Some of the elaborately crafted costumes included a hippie, a shower-curtain-ring salesman (inspired by a character in the movie “Trains, Planes & Automobiles”), a witch, Thing 1 and Thing 2 and painter Bob Ross.
Our Human Resources Department (pictured on the top left) won the best group costume for dressing as beloved Muppets characters, while our Community Services Department, pictured under The Muppets, scored second place as a group for their unique Pac-Man cast that included ghosts. Judges awarded Stephen Rodriguez, a Public Service Assistant at Heroes Regional Library, pictured on the top right, first-place in the individual competition for his costume as Alan Grant, a character in the movie “Jurassic Park.” Riley Hulsey, a City Council Assistant, pictured next to Stephen, earned second place for her costume as Goldmember, a creepy “Austin Powers” movie villain.
Party-goers voted for their favorite decorated pumpkin during the festivities and the winner was Lizbeth Palma, a Community Services Representative, who created a masterpiece Jack Skellington design inspired by the protagonist in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” animated movie. Our talented and funny Parks and Recreation Department Recreation Administrator Manuel Padia served as emcee at this fun event.
Thank you to GEEC for holding this party.
MORE GREAT NEWS FOR COG
COG SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLING EMPLOYEES AT SUCCESS FACTORS EVENT
City employees with diverse skills were honored at the Success Factors Excellence Awards Ceremony on Oct. 24 at the Civic Center.
Jose Santiago, the Media Relations/Communications Manager for our Police Department, served as emcee during this fun luncheon Mayor Jerry Weiers, City Manager Kevin Phelps and Assistant City Managers Vicki Rios and Jamsheed Mehta, as well as Deputy City Manager Brent Stoddard delivered heartfelt speeches about how the award recipients and all COG employees greatly exceed their job expectations as they improve programs and services for residents.
Winners received one-time bonuses of $1,500, while runnersup were given up to $200 as appreciation for their accomplishments. There were 32 runners-up.
Here is a look at the winners: Commitment to Service Excellence: Elena Lopez, Budget and Finance; Natisha Mitchell, Innovation & Technology; Julie Patterson, Transportation; Nancy Rodriguez, Human Resources and Risk Management; Mike Romeo, Field Operations; Megan Sheldon, Water Services; Anne Sullivan, Human Resources and Risk Management and Deanne Torres, Intergovernmental Programs.
Teambuilding & Collaborative Relationships: Aaron Crow, Parks and Recreation; Sherilyn Dean, Parks and Recreation; Brittany Espinoza, Parks and Recreation; Isabelle Flores, Parks and Recreation; Paul Frescas, Code Compliance; Frances Hernandez, Budget and Finance; Latoya Mitchell, Budget and Finance and Lucia Perreault, Development Services Organizational Awareness: LeJeune Boone, Human Resources and Risk Management; Marisella Gomez, Human Resources and Risk Management; Katie Rowley, Human Resources and Risk Management and Ysidro Solima, Human Resources and Risk Management Innovation: Belinda Cantu, Water Services; Joel Emert, Water Services; Daniel Esparza, Water Services, Donna Graybeal Sanchez, Innovation and Technology; Jessica Hoopes, Water Services; Brian O’Dell, Innovation and Technology; Alana Reid, Water Services and Thomas Relucio, Water Services.
Leadership: Madison Rybicki, Emergency Management
Continuous Learning & Development: Jim Sloan, Field Operations
COG, ORGANIZATIONS SHARE USEFUL TIPS ON DEMENTIA CARE AT UNIQUE EVENT
Our Community Services Department, with suppo other COG departments, offered valuable informa and inspiration to city residents at the 3rd Annua Dementia Friendly Glendale Awareness Event on at the Main Library
COG staff members, along with Banner Alzheime Institute, Foundation for Senior Living, Inspira Arrowhead by Cogir, Forever Carolina and other organizations shared signs of dementia, talked about how to assist loved ones with this disease and provide tips for maintaining good brain health. Information w also provided on support available for caregivers. Arizona has the country’s fastest-growing rate of peo with Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common cause of dementia, a loss of cognitive functioning tha interferes with people’s daily lives
Community Services partnered with our Office of Economic Development for the audio/visual team, while the Main Library’s youth librarian staff members hosted the game/craft area. Our Parks and Recreation Department provided its popcorn machine and staffed a table with their program information. COG Police Department also had a presence at the event and Police Detective Yon Grant, pictured on the top left, spoke to the audience. Detective Grant said the police department helps in any way possible to locate missing residents who have dementia or other mental challenges, regardless of how long they have been gone.
COG and the partnering organizations created an carnival-like atmosphere with prize giveaways, popcorn, crafts projects for children and books about dementia available to check out. Shannon Wallace, CEO/founder of Musical Memory Care, pictured on the top right, led attendees in singing the song “Chantilly Lace” while doing hand and leg movements aimed at boosting health.
Great job to everyone involved in this event. Learn more about COG’s dementia-friendly work at the link below.
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM EARNS TOP HONORS IN PRSA COMPETITION
Congratulations to Glendale’s Communications team for its 2024 Communications Team of the Year win at the prestigious Public Relations Society of AmericaPhoenix (PRSA) Copper Anvil Awards.
The team won seven different awards in categories ranging from best video to best non-traditional PR tactics AND was surprised at the Oct. 10 awards ceremony by being selected for the two top awards in this Valley-wide competition.
T cations Team of the Year honor at the 2024 event goes to the team with the most impressive list of accomplishments for work spanning over 2023/24. It also won the overall sweepstakes honor called the Judge’s Award. This is for what the judges deem as the best-in-show entry from everything that was entered by all PR agencies, corporations and governmental entities. Glendale was selected for its "Ruby Tuesday/Satisfaction Way" campaign celebrating The Rolling Stones' tour stop in Glendale.
This year, the PRSA Phoenix received a record-breaking number of entries. PRSA’s Sacramento-based sister chapter, was the impartial judging panel, evaluating submissions against rigorous criteria, including research, planning, execution and measurable results. The PRSA is the premier professional organization for public relations and communications practitioners, with more than 100 chapters nationwide. It’s another testament to our team’s commitment to innovative and impactful communications.
