A Well-Trained & Experienced Workforce

In this space last week there was a review of the mix of education and experience in the City’s senior management team, and an assessment of the educational achievements in the police and fire departments. Let’s take a look at the other City departments and the credentials held by those City employees.

Library

Our City library is a fantastic resource by any measure. The library staff of 18 members includes five professional librarians - persons holding a Master’s Degree in Library Science. There are also five other library employees with bachelor’s degrees, and one with an associate’s degree. The library staff members have many years of experience and hundreds of hours of training in specialized library topics, such as archiving, cataloging, and information searching on the internet through a variety of databases. In addition, three library staff members are fluent in French and two are fluent in Spanish.

Utilities

The City’s Utility Department is responsible for providing drinking water, and wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal. These activities are fundamental to our community and are highly regulated by state and federal agencies. State regulations require that the City have individuals working in these fields who hold state utility licenses, which are issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Obtaining such a license requires the passage of an extensive course and a number of years of experience.

The City’s water department employs two individuals with a state license in water plant operations, and three individuals with water distribution system licenses. The City’s wastewater department employs two individuals with wastewater plant operation licenses, and three individuals with wastewater collection system licenses. Employees in this department also have state licenses in other specialized areas, including one employee who is a certified plumber, and another employee who is a certified electrician. In addition to these licenses, training, and experience, one member of the department has a master’s degree, and one staff member has an associate’s degree. Two staff members are fluent in Spanish.

Planning, Zoning, and Development

The City’s Planning, Zoning, and Development Department is responsible for the processing of development requests, the enforcement of zoning code and building regulations, and city compliance with the state Growth Management Act and development related laws. The department has 7 staff members, and in addition to the director’s credentials there is one individual holding a master’s degree, and one staff member with an associate’s degree. The two staff members responsible for building inspection jointly have 42 certifications in state building code areas of specialty. Together, the individuals in this department have many years of experience in both the public and the private sector. Two members of this department are fluent in Spanish.

Finance Department

The Finance Department also carries out a fundamental task in ensuring that all funds are properly accounted for according to generally accepted accounting principles. In addition to the Finance Director’s credentials mentioned in last week’s column, the department has staff members with bachelor’s degrees and one staff member with an associate’ degree. The employees in this department also have many years of experience in both the public and private sector. Two department members are fluent in Spanish.

City Clerk’s Office

The City Clerk’s Office is responsible for recording and maintaining the official records of the City, City Commission agenda production, citizen board membership, records management, elections, and transcribing minutes for the City Commission, as well as other duties. This office has two employees, one with a bachelor’s degree. Both employees have years of experience in the public sector.

Public Services: Parks, Building Maintenance, Cemetery

In addition to the Director’s credentials, this department with 15 staff members has one individual with a bachelor’s degree. This department also has staff members with many years of experience in both the public and private sectors.

Support Services: Streets, Fleet Maintenance, Purchasing, Inventory

This department has 13 staff members and one individual holds a bachelor’s degree. These employees have many years of experience in both the public and private sectors as well as specialized training in their fields.

Information Services; and Human Resources

These two departments have a total of 4 staff members and one employee with a bachelor’s degree, and one employee with an associate’s degree.

The City of Lake Wales is fortunate to have a well-educated, trained, and experienced workforce!

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.