For Employees by Employees

ManateE-zine July 2012

Manatee County healthy initiatives receive regional, national recognition

In June, the National Association of Counties awarded Manatee County with a First Place Prize (Suburban County

Category) in the National County Government Month Award program for April’s month-long “Healthy Counties, Healthy Communities” celebration.

Manatee also fared well in One Bay’s Walk to the Moon Challenge that had teams from businesses, local governments and neighborhoods committed to covering a

total of 238,857 miles in seven weeks from April 4 through May 23. For teams between 100 - 250 participants, Manatee County Government won for total miles

walked (21,289 miles) and for highest average miles walked per participant (90 miles).

The events fall in line with Manatee County Commission’s unanimous vote to endorse a “Culture of Health” throughout Manatee County last September. The resolution touts a number of healthy measures Manatee County Government has taken to improve the wellness of its employees including encouraging employees to participate in educational wellness programs focused on nutrition and healthier eating.

County employees took those efforts to the public in April as part of the region-wide One Bay Challenge. Throughout the month Manatee County Government, Manatee

County Health Department and the Manatee County Clerk of Court’s office hosted more than 40 community events focusing on improving physical, social, behavioral, environ-

mental and economic health. The month-long celebration culminated with the Spring into Health event at Bennett Park, April 26.

“These awards are a real testament to this organization’s dedication to healthier lifestyle choices and the profound buy-in we’ve had with our employees who are coming to work healthier than ever,” said Deputy County Administrator Karen Windon who spearheaded Healthy Counties Month. “I’m also thrilled that so many participated.”

Manatee will be recognized during the NACo Annual Conference, July 13-17, in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh).

ManateeChoice gave Healthbucks awards to two lucky people.

Those who walked at least 150 miles were put into a drawing for two awards - 1. $245 in Health Bucks 2. $150 in Healthbucks. Our Health bucks winners were Anthony Carr (MSO) - $250 and Aimie Johnson (Utilities) $150.

The Manatee County Govern-

ment Team walked a total of

21288.967 miles.

Our top team members were -

Andy Ramdath (MSO) - 595.1

Callie MaCleod - 509.4195 miles

Janice Haas - 509.289 miles (Public Works)

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The Library NookManatee County Library Logo ContestCongratulations to the winners of the Manatee County Public Library Contest for a new motto and logo to promote our wonderful libraries in our community. Our new motto is “Sunshine for Your Mind” which really embodies all the wonderful materials and programs one finds when coming into one of our 6 Manatee County libraries.

The new motto was submitted by Mollie Sluss and our new logo was designed by Rino Landa. He created a bookshelf with two Manatee bookends. One Manatee is reading a book and one is using a laptop. This represents both our print users as well as our on-line community of users. The books on the shelf represent our 5 library branches with the symbol of the sun as the Central Library anchor. It ended up work-ing beautifully with the new motto chosen. The winners each won a new Kindle Fire.

We had over 200 entries. The community support was amazing for this contest. Half of the entries were from students. We had a special award given to our top student entry. It was submitted by Serenity Dodd. Check out our Manatee County Library Facebook page to see the winning designs and photos from our awards ceremony at the Central Library on July 16th. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Employee Health BenefitsBiggest Loser Contest at Public SafetyTotal Weight Loss 403 lbsSubmitted by Renee Isom of Public Safety and Manatee YourChoice Center for Health & Lifestyle Management

Employees at Public Safety formed their own Biggest Loser Competition this year and had INCREDIBLE RESULTS!!!

Renee writes: Congratulations to everyone who signed up for the Public Safety Biggest Loser Contest. Some of you did incredible and have been an inspiration to us all. For the contestants who didn’t do as well as they would have liked, please know you made a positive step when you signed up by openly recognizing a desire to be healthier. We don’t all get to be the biggest losers, but we are all winners!

Public Safety Biggest Loser Stats Total Weight Loss 403 lbs

Our Biggest Loser Winners are:

1. Kawanna Brewer - Lost 21.44% $156 (Total Winnings $196.05)

2. Heather Hedgecock - Lost 18.83% (Total Winnings $89)

3. Mike Turner - Lost 17.95% $67 (Total Winnings $133.75)

Congratulations from all of us!

Mid-Point Winners last April: Mike Turner $66.75 Kawanna Brewer $40.05 Mike Petrilla $26.70

Manatee County’s Yweight Program makes the Bradenton Herald!Check out the article that was published in the Bradenton Herald regarding Yweight and Heather Hedgcock’s success!

For more informa-tion on Manatee

County’s libraries visit them on the

web or “like” them on Facebook!

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Calendar of EventsAugust 2012To view Parks & Recreation programs and activities, click here.

To view Marauders baseball events and activities, click here.

Tech TalkAre You Still Paying for Home Virus Protection?By Mike Brown, Information TechnologyAre you using Norton antivirus at home? Or MacAfee? Or any other paid virus

protection for your home computer? Then you should read this… The

County provides all the protection you need at work but, what about

your home computer? Although no one knows for sure it is estimated

that there are about 100 viruses written everyday and about

250,000 known viruses in circulation today. Any one

of these could severely damage your computer or steal your identity. There are lots and lots of

opinions on the date of birth of the first computer virus. I only know for sure that there were no viruses on the

Babbage machine, but the Univac 1108 and IBM 360/370 quickly got them (‘Pervading Animal’ and ‘Christmas tree’). Therefore the first virus was born in the beginning of 1970s or even in the end of 1960s, although nobody was calling it a virus then.

Let’s talk of the earliest history: ‘Brain’, ‘Vienna’, ‘Cascade’, etc. Those who started using IBM PCs as far back as mid-80s might still remember the epidemic of these viruses. Letters were dropping from dis-plays, crowds of users rushing towards monitor service people (much like these days, when hard disk drives die from old age but some unknown virus is to blame). Their computers started playing a hymn like ‘Yankee Doodle’, but by then people were already clever (and nobody tried to fix their speakers) very soon it became clear that the problem wasn’t with the hard-ware, it was a virus, and not even a single one, more like a dozen.

However, virus protec-tion is expensive. Currently Norton antivirus is selling for $40 a license and it is a very CPU intensive application. Other antivirus pro-tection software runs about the same amount. Sometimes the slowdown of an antivirus program is worse than having a virus. However, there is a safe and sim-ple solution, www.avast.com provides one of the best virus protection applications I personally have found. It is light, secure and updates its virus definitions daily and the best part is it is completely free. Now, you are probably wondering what the catch is… Well there is one but, it is small. When you are downloading the free version it will ask you if you want to upgrade to the paid version. Simply decline and continue to download the free version. Then, once a year it will ask you to renew your license in which they encourage you to purchase the paid version. That is it, no pop ups asking you to upgrade, no lockouts until you upgrade… just two requests to upgrade. After that you get years of great virus protection for free.

There’s no excuse for traveling the internet without virus protection and now there’s no excuse to pay for it anymore. I have been using it for about 5 years and have never had a problem or a virus. You should too…

As of July 13, 4 Yweight events were held out of 12; 605 participants completed their “weight-out” for Plan Year 2013 Health Bucks and “weigh-in” for Plan Year 2014 Health Bucks. Of those 605, 67% met their Yweight goal. By next month we hope to report that all 2600 registered Yweight Participants attended – because even if participants didn’t reach their goal for this year this was their opportu-nity for a FRESH START and to stay enrolled in the program for the following year. Stay tuned for the final results of Yweight!

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Toastmasters TidbitLaws of Positive Leadership, Part 2By Victor ParachinMissed laws 1 - 5 of positive leadership? Check out the first part of this story in the May/June 2012 E-zine.

Show respect for people around you.Your words and actions will show how much you value other people’s contribu-tions. Consider the example of Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post. Although she led a powerful and influen-tial newspaper in the nation’s capital, she did so with compassion, kindness, humility and sincerity. Graham was well-known and highly regarded for the humble, respectful way she treated those who worked for the paper.

One who admired her for those qualities was Richard Cohen, a columnist for the Washington Post. He tells of a hot, humid Sunday in July when a tent was erected on the Post’s parking lot. “It was for a com-pany party, given for people whose names you never hear – those un-bylined, non-TV-appearing types who take the ads or deliver the paper or maybe just clean the building.” Cohen saw Katharine Graham making her way toward the party. “She was old by then, and walking was difficult for her. She pushed her way up the ramp, moving in a laborious fashion. She had a farm in Virginia, a house in Georgetown, an apartment in New York, and most significantly that hideously hot day, a place on the water in Martha’s Vineyard. Yet here she was...” One of Katharine Graham’s great legacies was the way she treated everyone with respect, whether they were famous and powerful or anonymous and vulnerable.

Treat everyone as family.Paul Orfalea says his company, Kinko’s, is stronger and better than the competition because he stresses the importance of the personal touch. Referring to his struggle

with dyslexia, Orfalea says: “Because I can’t read or write well, I’ve had to trust others to help me get things done – from Danny, my best friend since fourth grade, to Natalie, my wife, to my coworkers. At Kinko’s, I set a policy that most of our communication be done not by written memos, but by talking face-to-face. This made us work closer as a team, and we had better relationships (and more fun!) as a result.”

Be a source of inspiration. When appropriate, share your wisdom. Offer people insights you have gleaned along the way. Nurture those around you so they expand, enlarge, grow and do more than they ever thought they could do. John Erskine was a highly regarded American educator, musician and novelist noted for energetic, skilled work in several different fields. Erskine said he learned one of the most valuable lessons of his life when he was only 14 years old. It took place when his piano teacher asked: “How many times a week do you practice and how long do you practice each time?” Erskine said he tried to practice once daily for an hour or more. “Don’t do that,” she responded. “When you grow up, time won’t come in long stretches. Practice in minutes, when-ever you can find them – five or 10 before school, after lunch, between chores. Spread your practice throughout the day and music will become a part of your life.”

It was advice he accepted and acted upon. Erskine became a concert pianist who performed with the New York Philharmon-ic. Later he served as president of the Julliard School of Music and director of the Metropolitan Opera Association. He also went on to teach literature at Columbia

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University and wrote 45 books. His most famous, The Private Life of Helen of Troy, was written as he commuted to Columbia.

Stress cooperation not competition.Knute Rockne, the famous American football coach, led his team to many victo-ries by stressing cooperation with team-mates versus competition. “I have to get the most energy out of a man and have discov-ered that it cannot be done if he hates anoth-er man. Hate blocks his energy and he isn’t up to par until he eliminates it and develops a friendly feeling (toward all his team-mates).”

Maintain a sense of humor. No one enjoys being around someone who is humorless, heartless, rigid and unable to laugh or enjoy all aspects of life. People who take themselves less seriously are far more pleasant to associate with. No matter how daunting or serious your work, do it with a sense of lightness, merriment and playfulness. An Air Force sergeant was interviewing a young man whose military term was ending. The sergeant asked if the airman would consider re-enlisting. “I wouldn’t re-enlist if you made me a four-star general, gave me a million dollars and

Victor Parachin is a freelance writer

living in Tulsa,Oklahoma.

Toastmasters Events

All events and meetings are on

Fridays from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

August 3Place: Manatee

Room

August 10Place: Manatee

Room

August 17Place: Public Works

August 24Place: Public Works

August 31Place: Osprey Room

Learn about Toastmasters by

visiting us on the iNet!

Miss America for a roommate!” the man seethed. Obviously the sergeant had a sense of humor. On the form the sergeant simply wrote: “Airman is undecided.”

If that selfish Army commander in Alaska had put into practice only one or two of these tips, he might have prevented the loss of his soldiers’ morale. If he had practiced all 10 tips on a regular basis, his troops would have followed him anywhere, even under hazardous circumstances. Chances are you’ll never have to lead soldiers into combat, but you can earn loyalty, trust and admiration from team members in any

Rising StarsMentoring, Networking & Leadership

By Nicholas Azzara, Information OutreachMentoring, networking, leadership: they’re the three areas you’re going to be hearing more about from the Manatee Rising Stars in the future.

For the second consecutive year the Rising Stars hosted a social gathering at Crosley Estate in May. The group had been around for a little more than a year and was strug-gling a bit with an identity. Several mem-bers of the Stars had concerns over the number of meetings we were having. We were also hearing there was a misconcep-tion that the Stars were for only a specific group of members when it’s actually open to anyone interested in being a part of the county’s future. We decided to set the record straight at Crosley.

The Stars’ biggest success story during their first year came from the Mentoring group which matched several up-and-coming leaders of the county with directors and administrators. Mentees were paired with mentors based on similar interests and career aspirations. We knew mentor-ing would have to remain an integral part of the Rising Stars going forward, but we wanted to broaden the scope for those who were more interested in building profes-sional relationships across the

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Employee of the Month - July 2012Nicki Bentley, Animal Services

1) What does your job entail? Why is it impor-tant? My position at Animal Services is en-forcement officer and volunteer coordinator. My day consist of helping animals who have been abandoned or neglected, and starting up and implementing volunteer programs. Since Manatee County has taken the steps to be-come a No Kill Community we utilize volun-teers to help with every aspect of shelter work and animal enrichment activities. Volunteers are a vital part of becoming and maintain-ing the No Kill status, because there simply aren’t enough employees or time in the day for the staff to get done what always needs to or should be done.

2) What is the most interesting part of your job? The most interesting part of my job is getting to work with animals and people from all backgrounds. I never know what to expect each day, and that makes my job fun. I can honestly say I love my job and have fun doing it.

3) What is the strangest thing that has hap-pened on the job? I don’t have a “strangest thing” on the job story. I work with animals so every day is new and different and some days they all classify as strange.

4) Where are you from? I am a Floridian born and raised. I was born in Arcadia, FL and spent most of my life in Hardee County before moving to Manatee County.

5) What are your hobbies? When I am not

organization. Under the leadership of Kinyata Love and Shannon Johann, the Mentoring group completed a successful first year of professional pairings and already has plans to launch a second round of mentoring.

Another one of the strengths of the Rising Stars lies is its knack for helping people meet each other who never would have otherwise. We thought, “if we’re all truly on the same Manatee County Government ‘team,’ why is it that it’s so hard to meet people from other departments?” To that end, we decided there needed to be an avenue for networking. So, we’ll continue to hold an annual networking event at Crosley, and we’re going to continue to schedule periodic tours of county facilities

in the future. The Crosley will be the Stars’ signature event each year,

but we’ll also be assisting Tina Neri with the annual Manatee

Miles walk through Robinson Preserve.

Finally, the Rising Stars have decided to add an emphasis on leadership, in an effort to groom tomor-row’s department directors

and leaders today. We’ll be hosting quarterly Leadership

Lunches in the downtown Administration Building and at

other county buildings. At these lunches, we’ll ask leaders from the organi-zation and across the community to speak to our group about their leadership styles, what they’ve learned in their careers and tips on how to become effective supervi-sors, managers and directors.

New County Attorney Mickey Palmer has agreed to speak at the Rising Stars’ first Leadership Luncheon on Aug. 16 at noon in the Manatee Room on the Fourth Floor of the Administration Building. Mr. Palmer’s story is a unique one in that he worked in the County Attorney’s Office for 13 years beginning in 1987, he left to join a private law practice in 2000 and returned to the county in 2012 when the County Commis-sion hired him as County Attorney. We hope you’ll bring your lunch and join us for this free event open to all County employ-ees!

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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.

June 2012

Public WorksJack Frohmander, PWM SuperintendentStan Stephens, PWM Supervisor

Financial ManagementSharla Fouquet, Impact Fee Program Manager

Community ServicesCarl McAllister, Building Supervisor for Agri-

Florida Women in Government

Wednesday, August 8, 2012 @ noonPlace: Manatee

Room1112 Manatee Avenue West

Bradenton, FL 34205

culture & Extension Service Division

Property ManagementCarol Richards, Senior Records & Informa-tion TechDoug Jones, Senior Engineering Tech

Neighborhood ServicesSuzie Dobbs, Community Development Man-ager

Parks & RecreationCarolyn Angiolillo, Recreation Division Man-agerMichelle Richardson, Facility Operations ManagerJeff Lighburne, Fitness/Wellness CoordinatorKaren Corbran, Recreation CoordinatorEd Maro, Recreation CoordinatorSteve Munyer, Recreation CoordinatorIan Wenzel, Recreation CoordinatorBobby Greathouse, Recreation CoordinatorRacheal Frank, Recreation AssistantNicole Hamilton, Recreation Assistant

Public SafetyRick Browning, Officer IILarry Luh, CaptainChristina Rios, Animal Services Officer

Team EffortMary Moeller, Administrative AssistantKerri Alderson, CVB Sales RepresentativeTammy Boggs, BDS Customer Service Sup-port ManagerYoshira Castro, NS Librarian IIIWendy Dean, County Admin. Health Benefits SpecialistRandi Dunsworth, Utilities Fiscal SpecialistVishal Kakkad, PW Traffic Systems EngineerSimone Peterson, Ns Administrative AssistantLynn Pierce, IT Systems ManagerKelli Polanski, NR Administrative SpecialistGail Somodi, CS Soil Conservation SupervisorJeffrey Bare, PW Chemical Application Tech-nicianAngie Bibler, FM Budget Division Manager Jan Brewer, FM Budget DivisionTim Collins, PM Senior Engineer Tech.Candi Cruz, FM Budget TechnicianSherri Pape, FM Senior Budget AnalystPaul Smith, IT Computer Operations Support Tech IIGreg Wright, FM Budget Manager

working and organizing events I like curl up in my recliner and read a good book or two, and I love anything water related (i.e. fishing, water skiing, scuba diving, and swimming in general.)

6) Did you attend college? Where? I have almost completed 1 year of online school-ing from Colorado Tech. University, studying business and financial management.

7) If you were stranded on an island and could have 3 items, what would they be? If I were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 items they would be; sunscreen to avoid get-ting sun-burnt, my tablet for infinite reading possibilities, and a mask/snorkel to view the marine life and swim with the fish.

8) What did you want to be as a kid? When I was a kid I wanted to be an adult, but look-ing back, I think now I would like to be a kid again! They seem to have more fun in every-thing they do.

9) Do you have any pets? Who works at Animal Services and doesn’t have a pet? I currently have one dog, Molly, who is a small Pit mix type dog, and I have recently acquired one hairless rat, who my daughter has insisted in naming Rudolf. However, I do have many foster animals come into my home so they can rest, heal, mend, and/or grow bigger so they may be adopted out through Animal Services.

10) What’s your favorite song at the moment? I don’t have a favorite song but I love to listen to anything with a good beat, and anything that is catchy and makes you sing along.

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Help the Cook by Finding the Words

The Final Word“It’s all thanks to EHB and to you and your dependents.”

There was no shortage of well-deserved accolades for Employee Health Benefits and the coun-ty’s health plan over the past two months. As this month’s cover story recounts, the National Association of Counties awarded Manatee a first place award for a month’s worth of “Healthy Counties, Healthy Communities” activities. Later that month One Bay recognized Manatee’s efforts during the Walk to the Moon Challenge.

Last month the Bradenton Herald featured a truly remarkable YWeight success story. Heather Hedgecock, a Captain with 9-1-1 dispatch, has lost an incredible 83 pounds thanks to her de-termination to become healthier and dedication to incentives provided by our health plan. One week after Heather’s story ran, the Herald ran an important editorial touting the advances from our health plan. The article states the Manatee health plan should serve as a model for others across the country and that we are at the forefront for institutional wellness. I couldn’t agree more.

Special recognition goes to Kim Stroud and her outstanding team at EHB. Their dedication to our health and wellness is evident in everything they do each day and for that they deserve a big thanks.

Heather’s weight loss story may be an exception to the rule, but we see evidence that YWeight is working throughout the organization. By this time next month, the weigh-out events will be complete and we should have a good idea of exactly how much weight our workforce lost … and how much healthier we’ve become as an organization.

The individual benefits of health loss are clear. By dropping a few pounds – even the 2 or 5 percent to receive health bucks under YWeight – you’re almost guaranteed to see an improvement in your blood pres-sure, BMI, cholesterol and self confidence. Those are the immediate dividends. Over the long haul, you’ll have less chance for heart attack and stroke and you’re far less likely to end up in the hospital for treat-ment of an obesity-related ailment.

The individual health savings are already beginning to add up for the organization as a whole. The county’s medical plan costs are rising at a rate far less than the national average. It’s all thanks to EHB and to you and your dependents who are part of the health plan and who have chosen to take seriously the benefits of healthy living and weight loss.