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Manate E-zine For Employees by Employees January 2011 Mark Fransen: Employee of the Year BY NICHOLAS AZZARA, INFORMATION OUTREACH Ask our Manatee County Govern- ment 2010 Employee of the Year about his career path with the Coun- ty and he’ll regale you with a mean- dering tale that dates back to his days as a highway maintenance technician back in ‘82. Over the years Mark Fransen has toiled on county roads, rights of ways, intersections and driveways, all in an effort to keep the community -- you, me, our friends and our families -- safe. It’s been a fitting career for a man with a heart as big as a brontosaurus. You probably know Mark best as one of the United Way’s biggest champions. In years past he spearheaded Public Works’ UW Campaign, reeling in thousands of dollars for charities by organizing golf tournaments, skeet shoots and barbecue cookouts. “Mark is an outstanding individual who’s involved in everything,” says Public Works Director Ron Schulhofer. “He did an outstanding job running United Way last year. We’re very pleased to have him as a member of the Public Works family.” Mark had become such an outstanding fundraiser that the County Administrator personally asked Mark to head up the countywide effort in 2010, a role Mark happily inherited until it became too much to balance with his everyday workload. “I like people. I like helping people,” Mark says. “It makes you feel good, even though it can be hard and stressful.” Since 2007 Mark has been issuing Right of Way permits for applicants wanting to do work in County rights of way. He’s also in charge of designing, reviewing and approving traffic control signs and notifications. It’s that part of his job that gives him the most gratification. “I enjoy the traffic notification process,” Mark says. “It gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing that I’m letting the public and especially emergency responders know the best detour when roadwork is being done. That enables them to respond faster.” He was flattered and honored to learn he’d been named Employee of the Month in January,

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BY NICHOLAS AZZARA, INFORMATION OUTREACH “I like people. I like helping people,” Mark says. “It makes you feel good, even though it can be hard and stressful.” You probably know Mark best as one of the United Way’s biggest champions. In years past he spearheaded Public Works’ UW Campaign, reeling in thousands of dollars for charities by organizing golf tournaments, skeet shoots and barbecue cookouts. It’s been a fitting career for a man with a heart as big as a brontosaurus.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ManateE-zine January 2011 (1)

ManateE-zineFor Employees by Employees January 2011

Mark Fransen: Employee of the YearBY NICHOLAS AZZARA, INFORMATION OUTREACHAsk our Manatee County Govern-ment 2010 Employee of the Year about his career path with the Coun-ty and he’ll regale you with a mean-dering tale that dates back to his days as a highway maintenance technician back in ‘82. Over the years Mark Fransen has toiled on county roads, rights of ways, intersections and driveways, all in an effort to keep the community -- you, me, our friends and our families -- safe.

It’s been a fitting career for a man with a heart as big as a brontosaurus.

You probably know Mark best as one of the United Way’s biggest champions. In years past he spearheaded Public Works’ UW Campaign, reeling in thousands of dollars for charities by organizing golf tournaments, skeet shoots and barbecue cookouts.

“Mark is an outstanding individual who’s involved in everything,” says Public Works Director Ron Schulhofer. “He did an outstanding job running United Way last year. We’re very pleased to have him as a member of the Public Works family.”

Mark had become such an outstanding fundraiser that the County Administrator personally asked Mark to head up the countywide effort in 2010, a role Mark happily inherited until it became too much to balance with his everyday workload.

“I like people. I like helping people,” Mark says. “It makes you feel good, even though it can be hard and stressful.”

Since 2007 Mark has been issuing Right of Way permits for applicants wanting to do work in County rights of way. He’s also in charge of designing, reviewing and approving traffic control signs and notifications. It’s that part of his job that gives him the most gratification.

“I enjoy the traffic notification process,” Mark says. “It gives me a sense of accomplishment knowing that I’m letting the public and especially emergency responders know the best detour when roadwork is being done. That enables them to respond faster.”

He was flattered and honored to learn he’d been named Employee of the Month in January,

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New Year, New ProjectsBY BRENDA DILLARD, BUILDING DEPARTMENTThe Building Department is looking forward to a productive and successful New Year with the projects planned by our Director and the senior staff.

John Barnott, our Building Department Direc-tor, is expecting a gradual rebound in the econo-my. He will continue to expand the business plan to utilize public/private partnerships and the success of our department and those of our customers. Currently our department is hold-ings its own or on an upward trend.

C J Dupre’, our Building Official, will meet with other Building Officials in the area to create consistency between jurisdictions. He will develop class and training opportunities with Tom Cook for Continuing Education Units (CEU) for the staff and other jurisdictions. CJ is going for the Green Building Certification.

Tom Cook, our Construction Review/Inspec-tions Manager, will work with C J Dupre’ on Continued Education Units (CEU), working with Cindi Blake on outreach programs, regulating permitting and on-line permitting with the staff.

Cindi Blake, our Permitting Services Division Manager, will work with Tom Cook on outreach programs with Homeowner Associations and Mobile Home Park Communities. Currently she is working with on-line permitting for roofing and door/window permits with hopes of contin-ued expansion. She also encourages the permit-ting staff to complete the Certified Floodplain Managers (CFM) Certification as well as con-tinuing to work with the staff on cross training and keep the level of customer service high between the staff and customers.

Tammy Boggs, our Customer Service Support Manager, is working with her staff on the next two year budget as well as producing a depart-ment informational video and brochure. They will be working with the Manatee County School Board, the Future Builders of America, and the Home Builders Association to bring a field trip to the Administration Building for students to see the process involved in bringing a subdivi-sion or new business to completion. Tam-my is completing the Certified Public Managers program and getting the Toastmasters Competent Communi-cator Certification.

Teamwork is an important part of how our department func-tions. I have a sign on my bulletin board that states

2010. But when he found out he’d been named Employee of

the Year he was downright humbled.

He ranks the distinction among the top two proudest moments of his

career with Manatee County.

County Commissioners and super-visors alike had high price for Mark during his Employee of the Year proclamation in December.

“You can give Mark any job and you know he’s going to do the job well,” says Mark’s supervi-sor Andy Fischer, the Infrastructure Inspec-tions Division Manager.

“(Mark is) one of those dedicated employees who I’ve really seen grow professionally,” said Commissioner Joe McClash. “It’s great to see someone from this community step up to the plate. I want to congratulate him personally for a job well done.”

For the past 11 years Mark has been married to his wife Susan, a Clerk of the Circuit Court employee. He has three step-daughters ages 24, 19 and 17. Since 2007 he’s also been taking care of his live-in 82-year-old mother who’s had a number of health problems.

He’s also got a soft spot for a new Vizsla puppy named Alice.

Oh, and the other crowning achievement of Mark’s career? It was a day in 1996 when he received a letter of appreciation from County Attorney Tedd Williams for going “over and above” the call of duty. In the middle of the night Mark had gone to inspect an intersec-tion where a fatal accident had occurred. He wanted to make sure the same accident didn’t happen again.

“I hate to see traffic accidents where our facilities were involved in some way,” Mark says. “I tried to pay special attention to mak-ing sure people weren’t hurt on my watch. If I heard about something, I wanted to be sure it didn’t happen again.”

Stop. Think. Connect.™ campaign

reminder:

Don’t forget to fill out the online surveys:These surveys will

help shape the content of the Security

Awareness web page and the design of

future training for incoming employees.

YourChoice Biggest Loser Competition:

begins January-Registration and

Weigh-In between Jan. 17 and Jan. 21

-Competition BEGINS Jan. 24th!

More details to follow, refer to the iNet and www.ManateeYour-

Choice.com

Your Benefits websiteDon’t forget to access www.ManateeYour-

Choice.com for the monthly calendar.

Each month a new calendar is posted with

all the programs and services being offered that month…such as,

Group Fitness Schedule, Qualifying

Questions of the Week, Diabetes Workshops,

Tobacco Courses, Nutri-tion and Weight Loss

Classes, Special Programs and more.

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“Teamwork is surrounding yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” Our teammates do that by pitching in and helping each other out and that makes all of our jobs easier. We can come to work and be miserable or we can enjoy our jobs, the amount of work we do is the same. We spend a lot of time with our teammates so we need to get along, enjoy our jobs, and do a great job in the process.

HR CornerFour Generations, One WorkplacePart 1- Traditionalists (1930-1950)

BY SIMONE PETERSON, NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICESTraditionalists. Baby Boomers. Generation X. Generation Y.

For the first time in history there are four generations in the workforce. Naturally, this brings forth col-

laboration and innovation. However, it is not without its share of conflicts. Have you said these things about your co-workers or have they been directed to you:

“She is not committed to her job”“He has a poor work ethic”“He does not follow direction”“I can’t believe the way he/she dresses.”

Or better yet…

“You’re right, but I’m the boss!”“Just do your job!”“I remember when …”“The kid wants a promotion after 6 months on the job!”

These are just some of the phrases that plague America’s diverse workforce due to the “Generation Gap”.

According to GovernmentExecutive.com, “the term Generation Gap was used mostly to describe conflicts between parents and chil-dren. Today, the ‘Gap’ has more of a presence in the workplace, where employees from different generations are finding it difficult to work side by side because their experiences, goals and expectations are different.” [4]

More than one-third of workers have encoun-tered some sort of conflict over the perceived difference in attitude and work ethic of co-workers or generation gap. [1] Another third of the workforce have often been offended by someone from another generation. [2]

24% of Traditionalists, 30% of Baby Boomers and over 60% of Generation Xers said they feel their generation is viewed negatively. [3]

In an attempt to clear up these misunderstand-ings, ManateE-zine staff is partnering with Human Resources to feature each of the generations: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Generation Yers. We will take a broad view of the components that define a generation, such as: values, traits, world events, economics, government, techno-logical advances and pop culture.

Every single person will not fit neatly into the generation profiles. These are merely overviews from the “experts” in generational studies in the workforce and some things may not be true for all individuals. It is not the intention of the ManateE-zine staff or Human Resources to criticize or promote any generation above the other, but to simply recognize and even take pride in generational differences while learning to play diplomatically in the proverbial sandbox with our co-workers.

We’ll begin with the Traditionalists.

Technology was the LP record. Peyton Place was

the show to catch on the tube. Joe DiMag-gio was the talk of the sports world and time at work was defined by a punch

clock. [5]

Traditionalists also known as Silents (Remember the

phrase “No news is good news?”), Veterans or Radio Babies, were born between 1930-1950 making them 61-81 years of age and account for approximately 8% of the workforce (35 million people).[16] About 90% of them have retired. [15] To place this in perspective, according to Mana-tee County Human Resources Department,

Want to toss in your 2¢?Did the experts hit the

mark on your generation? Let us

know what you think! Send us an e-mail at

[email protected].

E-mailers will remain anonymous

Traditionalists Tidbits-Due to 9/11 Tradition-

alists and Millenials have some common ground, both being “war generations.”

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Traditionalists make up 16% (266 employees) of the County’s workforce.

What Shaped ThemWhile growing up, people in this generation were affected by World War II, the Korean War and Pearl Harbor. The wars and conflicts during this time had a profound influence on the Traditionalists’ work ethic. To work was a privilege. People from this generation are punctual, rarely miss work, are committed and dedicated to an organization and respect authority and structure. [6] When it comes to communicating to their peers, it will preferably take place face to face or through a letter.

The Great Depression also influenced this group by making them conservative financially and personally. [7] As Natalia Avalos from Cornell University writes, “… [Traditionalists] know how to stretch a buck nine ways to Sunday (and understand that phrase).” [8]

In the WorkplaceFair-play in the workplace is valued and practiced by Traditionalists. [9] As long as there is impartiality in the workplace they are willing to work within the system. They are also people who follow through with their commitments and expect others to do the same whether they are the boss or not. When this is exhibited in a company’s culture, you have won the loyalty of this generation.

Additionally, Traditionalists believe that rewards and promotions come from hard work, dedica-tion and “paying your dues.” [10] Silents are also known for their stoicism. They do not receive much feedback given nor do they expect it.

Strengths and ChallengesThey have great interpersonal skills and great work ethic. However they may struggle with diversity in the workforce and technology. [11]

One way to combat this is to focus on personal development courses such as those that feature up to date technology and how to use it.

How to Manage and Identify With TraditionalistsUse testimonials[12]

By using a tried and true process that has yielded positive results, Traditionalists will buy into a project or solution to a problem because it provides that sound reasoning that is in-grained in them.

Put them into leadership/mentoring rolesAfter being in the workplace for over 20+ years, Traditionalists are pros at what they do. They possess intellectual assets as well as company knowledge and history. Place them in roles where they can impart that knowledge to the workforce coming in behind them, thus lessen-ing a potential brain drain when the tradition-alists decide to pack up and move onto retire-ment.

Independence can be a motivatorTraditionalists need to feel needed. [13] Let them know how much their hard work, skills, knowl-edge and dedication has taken a company from point A to point B through public recognition, bestowing more responsibility and/or allow them to take on a leadership role. Let them have more control and autonomy on their job. After doing a job for 20+ years you become an expert at what you do and provided the Tradi-tionalist employee is good at it, little or no supervision is needed.

Offer opportunities to continue working[14]

Some Silents are so dedicated to their job or company that they are agreeable to come back as volunteers. If they are willing and you can use them, consider it. Especially with the downsizing companies are currently going through.

Next month will be all about the Baby Boomers- the “Me Generation.”

Four Generations, One Workplace-

Traditionalists Sources

[1] Callahan, Kath-leen. “N.H.’s Changing

Workforce: Bridging the generation gap.”

[2, 3, 5, 15] Monteiro, John. Managing

Generational Differences in the

Workplace. New York State Personnel

Council. Empire State Plaza, New York, New

York. 25 Oct. 2006.

[4] Kogan, Marcela. “Federal managers work

to bridge workplace generation gap.”

[6, 12, 15-16] Boyer, Lonn. Madera County,

Human Resources

[7] “Leading the Four Generations at Work.”

[8]Avalos, Natalia. “From Sinatra to

Spice Girls: Under-standing four

generations in the workplace.”

[9] “Meeting the

unique needs of the Traditionalists,

Generation Xers, and Millenials.”

[10-11] Caldwell, Doug. Slideshare.

Generations in theWorkforce

[13-14] Thielfoldt, Diane. “Engaging a

Changing Work-force!.” The Learning

Cafe, 2009.

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Kudos CornerTo view the kudos information, click on the link which will take you to the PDF file on the iNet.

December 1

Parks & RecreationMary Dewey

County Administrator’s OfficeKaycee Ellis

Building DepartmentCindi Blake

December 8

Agriculture & Resource ConservationBob Wyatt, Elissa Mirabelli

County Administrator’s OfficeYvonne Houston

Convention & Visitors Bureau Rachel Harrison

Public SafetyVicki Warner

December 15

Information TechnologyRon Hardy

Public SafetyTim Kelly, Tom Peltier, Ron Rich

Property ManagementCharlie Bishop

Community ServicesJohn Weldon

Team KudosNatural ResourcesHats off to you, Charlie Hunsicker and the whole staff on the amazing transformation and resto-ration at Jiggs Landing. All of you have done a terrific job. Thanks also to you Melissa for all of your excellent programming at all the preserves throughout the year. Keep up the good work and many, many thanks.-Marie and Frank Haas

Employee of the MonthKathy PeelPublic Safety

1. What does your job entail? I am a shift Captain (supervisor) with MCEMS. I am responsible for the daily operations of EMS when on duty. My job includes management of staff, payroll, customer service, training and running emergencies calls just to name a few. Others rely on me to provide the needed emer-gency services to the community.

2. What is the most interesting part of your job?The most interesting part of my job is the uncertainty of the day’s events. In the field of EMS things can change in a moment’s notice. Having a variety keeps things interesting.

3. What is the strangest thing that has hap-pened on the job?I wish I could pin point the strangest thing that has happened on the job. In this field of work anything can occur and after 22 years of service there has been quite a bit. My most rewarding moments have been when a spouse thanks you for “saving the life” of their loved one or bringing a new life into the world. I have had the privilege to delivering 4 babies while working as a paramedic.

4. Where are you from?Born and raised in Bradenton, Florida. I often hear “there aren’t many of you around.”

5. What are your hobbies?Skiing, vacationing, wellness activities like walking/running/swimming and biking, volunteering my time, watching the Tampa Bay Lightening.

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contribute money or buy them gifts. This year Christina, Eugene and their 3 children Shan-non age 7, Kristen age 5 and Conner 14 months old would be the beneficiaries of EMS’ good will.

The first encounterIt all began when Christina was traveling on her bicycle with her youngest child Conner near motor pool on 26th avenue, and stopped to ask for directions from EMS Captain Kathy Peel, who was meeting with EMS crew mem-bers Jim Larsen and Greg Hackett. Railroad construction was making it difficult to reach her house, and during the conversation they realized Christina’s bike had a flat tire. Cap-tain Peel offered Christina a ride to her house, but it didn’t end there.

The second encounter Around the first part of December, Capt. Peel was working her part time job at MMH-ER, when she recognized Christina in the ER. Her child Shannon was getting stitches. Kathy began to talk with Christina and in doing so decided her family would be good candidates’ for “adoption.”

In that encounter, Capt. Peel was able to obtain information on gift gathering for the family, such as what each child is interested in. Some examples were: Shannon likes Justin Bieber, Kristin likes Tinkerbell, Conner likes toys, Eugene likes tools and Christina likes to cook. What sizes they wear in clothes and shoes were also determined.

EMS to the rescue This information was distributed to Capt. Peel’s co-workers on A- shift and the gift giving began. It wasn’t long before gifts of all types were flooding the cap-tain’s office.

The deliveryJust prior to Christmas, Medic-13 (Joe Ingram and Gino Genovesi) along with Lt. Paul DiCicco and Capt. Peel wrapped all the gifts to be delivered to the family. On delivery day, 12/23/10 the original crew of Jim Larsen

6. Did you at-tend college? Where? What did you study?I attended State College of Florida (formerly Manatee Com-munity College when I attended) and received an A.A. degree in General Education. I then attended Hillsbourgh Community College and received an A.S degree in Nursing.

7. If you were stranded on an island and could have three items, what would they be and why?1. Lighter, Matches etc. Anything I could use to make a fire. Fire would be a necessity on a deserted island. 2. Husband, he’s pretty handy. 3. Blackberry, have to stay in communication with the world, oh and call for help.

8. What did you want to be when you were a kid?Physical Therapist or work with horses. I grew up on 10 acres and we always had ani-mals to care for.

9. Do you have any pets?No pets. They have all since passed and with my busy schedule pets just aren’t in the pic-ture right now.

10. What’s your favorite song at the moment?Don’t really have a favorite song. I usually only listen to music in the car so I haven’t been able to establish a “favorite”.

EMS Plays Santa to its Adopt-A-FamilyBY CAPT. LARRY LEINHAUSERChristina McMullen and her

fiancé Eugene Randolph are like many young couples starting out. Times are tough and finances are tight. But as a result of a happen chance meeting with an EMS Captain and an EMS crew (Paramedics Jim Larsen and Greg Hackett) at the County’s Motor Pool, and a later encounter at Manatee Memorial Emer-gency Room, their fortunes would change. At least for the holidays.

Every year at Christmas, EMS personnel choose a family in need to “adopt” and either

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and Greg Hackett along with Capt.Peel and Lt. DiCicco delivered all of the gifts in Unit 15. Each family member has several gifts each. They included a bike with a helmet, toys, clothes, tools, pots and pans and a stocking for each family member filled with candy.

The conclusionEugene and Christina were there to accept the

gifts. The children were elsewhere so the gifts would be a surprise, although the volume of gifts may make it hard to hide them all. The family was most grateful to their “EMS Santa’s” and enjoyed a bountiful Christmas as a result.

EMS staff enjoyed it as much as the family. Because their job is so challenging, it’s nice to have an opportunity to help a family in need in a fun and meaningful way without getting the request via 911.

So this concludes another year of our “adopt a family” program. We look forward to next year and thank all of the personnel who contributed so generously this year to make a family’s Christmas special.

Brenda G. Rogers, director of the Manatee County Community Services Department presented the $25 Gas Gift Card to Dorothy Rainey, Natural Resources Department who was one of 620 respondents to the Commuter Services Survey conducted in the Fall of 2010.

The Final Word“the upcoming budget season”County Administrator Ed Hunzeker recently sat down to answer several questions that have come in to Employee Central. Below is a transcript of the conversation.

Ed Hunzeker: As you’re all probably aware, it’s going to be another difficult year of budget reductions. The Property Appraiser’s Office is forecasting another $12 million to $14 million reduction in property tax revenues. It’s still very early in the process to tell where the reductions will take place. As in years past, we’re making every effort to reduce expendi-tures while keeping layoffs to an absolute minimum.

We’re also looking at all other revenues be-sides property tax revenues to see where they’re going. We have to get some sense of what the state legislature is going to do to us. We have to evaluate the Capital Improvement Program to see if we can operate the buildings we own.

Employee Central: The Bradenton Herald recently quoted you as saying layoffs are guaranteed. Why do we have to learn about these things in the newspaper?

Ed Hunzeker: Employees are aware that we are a service industry and services are pro-vided by employees. When you have to reduce your budget by somewhere between $12 million and $14 million, there’s going to have to be some position reductions. We’ve had 183 positions reduced over the past four years but we’ve tried to minimize the number of layoffs by moving employees around from lower priority positions of some departments into higher priority positions in other depart-ments. We’re going to do that again. Our goal is to minimize the number of layoffs this county has to make in order to balance the budget. We’ll be doing that over the next five months until we get to the initial budget presentations to the Board at the end of May. We’re in the information gathering stage and no decisions have been made yet. Everything is still on the table.

Employee Central: Does $14 million equal a

Paramedic Jim Larsen, Lt. Paul DiCicco,

Christina McMullen, Eugene Randolph ,

Capt. Kathy Peel, Paramedic Greg

Hackett

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certain number of positions that will be reduced?

Ed Hunzeker: No. It depends on how that plays out in the program funding arena. Multiple funds receive property tax revenue, but namely the general fund. We still have to look at other revenue sources, so the budget reductions may be more OR less than $14 million if revenues from other sources come in stronger. They all are in the mix and we have to evaluate all of our revenue sources. You can’t equate dollars to a number of posi-tions.

Employee Central: Is there a specific date when we’ll know when layoffs occur?

Ed Hunzeker: We will follow the same process we followed the last three years: We’ll exam-ine the budget with the Financial Manage-ment, with department directors and with management staff. We’ll have numerous meetings leading up to the presentation to the Board at the end of May. At the end of May or early June we’ll be notifying employees across the organization what we’re going to do.

Employee Central: Will four-day workweeks or furloughs be considered?

Ed Hunzeker: Everything is still on the table. We have to consider everything. We have a meeting next month with probably a dozen other county administrators across the state about how they’re dealing with budgets. One of the things I’m interested in is, how the administrators who had furlough programs and pay reduction programs feel about them now? Did it work? Did it not work? I’m gener-ally opposed to any reductions in salaries and furloughs. I just don’t see them operationally as a good way to go.

Employee Central: Will the Voluntary Separa-tion Incentive Program (early retirement option) be considered this year?

Ed Hunzeker: Yes, that’s on the table. We’ve used it the past few years and I think we’ll consider it again. We’ve been able to downsize the organization and reduce positions, but my goodness. The number of years of service and the knowledge we’ve lost from those people is

sorely missed. We’ll make that decision within the next 60 to 90 days.

Employee Central: Is the Budget Stabilization Fund still available to “soften the blow?”

Ed Hunzeker: Yes. We still have the blessing of having some money in our Budget Stabiliza-tion Fund. We’re protecting those dollars from anyone trying to spend them this year so we can have them available next year to help miti-gate reductions to the overall budget.

Employee Central: The budget reduction this year is less than last year’s reduction of $24 million. Do you see that as a sign of hope for local government?

Ed Hunzeker: Like everyone else, I’m looking for some good news. Perhaps it is. We’ll see. I haven’t seen anyone show up and say the value of my house has gone up—that will be the tell tale sign that our property tax reductions are going away.

In closing, I urge employees to be patient. Don’t listen to the rumor mill too much. No decisions have been made. We will try to keep the employees informed as to the decisions that the Board is going to be facing.