CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE
WEEKLY MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor MacLean, Councilors and Department Heads
FROM: Anne Davis, Interim City Manager
DATE: February 19, 2010
RE: Weekly Memo
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Next Week's City Meetings are available on our Calendar
Gardiner is gearing up for some great changes as our new city manager begins his tenure on March 8th. I encourage everyone to stop in and welcome Mr. Morelli to the Greater Gardiner community. Since this office is in transition for the next 2 weeks, this will be my last interim manager report as I return to my library position soon.
I may have to re-learn many of my library skills once I return. While I have been gone, the main floor has been transformed into a beautiful, airy space and we continue to get busier everyday. The wonderful library staff comes to work in a construction zone everyday and they have never complained. During this tenure I have learned new skills and I have gained so much insight into this municipality. My introduction to this new position was literally, an introduction by fire. On September 2nd at 3:12 AM Gardiner Paperboard mill burned and our firefighters were put in harm’s way. To compound the issue, our police officers had to find an arsonist fast so this person could not continue burning our buildings. I have learned that crematoriums are controversial and that boilers do not
have to necessarily burn oil. Along the way, it became apparent that the buck stopped with me and when there was no heat in the fire station, I had to track down our oil dealer…at 11PM on a Friday night.
Shall I make the analogy perfect by discussing the mile long ice jam poised just above our city? I have sat in meetings where we discussed different ice structures and whether we could somehow get it to move down river. I watched as the Coast Guard cutters gallantly tried to break it all up only to find that it was re-freezing right behind them. This fire and ice theme was my introduction into a profession that is very demanding.
What these past nine months have not been is a chore. I love to learn new things everyday…I am sure that is why I gravitated to a degree in library science. I have learned so much and it will forever change my ideas of city government. I had a passing knowledge of what all departments do, but the respect I have gained getting to know the workforce behind these departments will change the way I react to council decisions and regulated steps that go into making government run.
So, I end my final interim manager report with a simple thank you. I thank Mayor MacLean and our councilors for having enough faith in me to offer me the position. I thank our department heads for making me look good everyday. I could only slide into this position because of their help. I send a huge thank you to our front office staff who gently reminds me that there is a process in place when dealing with residents. I will miss the visits from our firefighters who always have a kind thing to say and a good meal to share. Each evening as I leave I pass by a police officer or two who are just arriving for work or getting off a shift and I worry about what may be waiting for them around a dangerous corner. I appreciate that our public works employees assure me that I can make it to work
the next day even though there may be a blizzard on the way. The buildings and grounds crew quietly work away and our community shines because of them. The planning and development staff work with our residents everyday as people try to improve their living conditions or look for help with zoning and ordinances. The patience of the P&D employees is a marvel to witness. Though I often chaffed at the Yoda-like advice from our finance department, at the end of the day, I came to realize it was correct and I knew our budget and our employee concerns were in very capable hands.
But most of all I need to thank our Gardiner community. I would never have done this job successfully if I did not have their confidence and support. They knew I could run a library, they told me everyday that I could also run a city. So thank you everyone for all your support and don’t forget, I will continue to need that support as I walk down to my office in the library. I hope to see many of you there.
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