Florida City Government Week

Mayor Alex Wheeler is scheduled to proclaim October 21-27 as "Florida City Government" week. This is a multi-faceted program of the Florida League of Cities. The purpose of the designation is to inform citizens of the wide variety of work that cities accomplish and to encourage citizens to take pride in their towns.

Perhaps the city employees with the highest profile are our police officers and firefighters. They risk their lives to respond to our calls for help, and their jobs require on-going training to learn and keep up with ever-changing laws and technological advancements. Then there are new commercial buildings, meaning new pre-fire plans must be done including what chemicals are present and where, and new subdivisions and streets must be planned and named.

Another group of employees called in on an emergency basis are the water and sewer utility workers. Honestly, most of us take what they do for granted: when you turn on your faucet, you expect water. It doesn’t occur to most people that perhaps someone may have had to stay up all night fixing a water main break, or having to fix a pump that moves raw sewage to the treatment plant... just as long as the water comes on in the morning and the toilet works. The preventative maintenance activities that the city utility workers also do in this regard are also very important.

Speaking of maintenance, other maintenance duties are performed by city workers in a variety of departments, from fixing street potholes, to cutting the grass in city parks and city cemeteries, and to cleaning and making repairs on city buildings, facilities, city vehicles, and the airport.

The city’s code enforcement officers also get calls: requests to investigate complaints about abandoned buildings, trash, and tall grass and weeds. This can be a very difficult job, seeking compliance from a recalcitrant or absentee property owner. Or it can involve chasing wild chickens or feral cats. But the successful result is quite satisfying; when an abandoned building is torn down, or a rundown building is fixed up, our town is a better place.

The are several locations where city employees encourage us to take a break. As mentioned in a previous column, the library employees present a superb place for all of us to read, use computers, or borrow DVD’s or CD’s. They welcome us to a place of respite from a hectic world, as do the employees of the Recreation Department. They staff the Kirkland Gym and provide a haven for basketball and weightlifting, and they work with other recreation league leaders to offer organized play... and the Depot Museum employees provide for our town a quiet glimpse of earlier days, in the former railroad depot.

And at City Hall there are many employees who do important work in a variety of departments –Finance, Utilities, Planning and Development, Human Resources, Public Services, Information Services, Economic Development, Main Street, Purchasing and Inventory, the City Clerk’s Office, and the City Manager’s Office– all taking care of the City’s business in their fields.

The City employees carrying out all these tasks very often work under adverse conditions and less than desirable circumstances. Their work is one of the many elements it takes to make our town a wonderful place, and it merits an expression of appreciation. Everyone has a chance to do just that during City Government Week. So go ahead and surprise the next city employees you see, and give them a sincere thank-you for what they do. Their recognition is well deserved.