Weekly Comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City of Fernandina Beach
City Manager
May 20, 2016 1:00 a.m.

Some of my most enjoyable days each month are the scheduled work days that I have with various departments. I have scheduled these work days to spend time “in the field” with department directors and staff in an effort to see things from the bottom up rather than the top down. The days are also a pleasant break from the daily bombardment of meetings, emails, and telephone calls.

So far, I’ve had days with the Fire Department, the Golf Course, the Airport, Utilities, and, this week, Streets and Facilities. Future work days include visits with Finance, Community Development, Parks and Recreation, Police, Marina, and Human Resources. The work days are scheduled for the third Wednesday each month.

My most vivid impression of working with the staff so far is nothing short of admiration. I am truly proud to work with the men and women that I have the opportunity to work with. The knowledge and the dedication undoubtedly surpasses that of any staff, from top to bottom, in my previous communities.

I’ve worked in communities where the underlying philosophy is “What’s in it for me?” or “That’s not my job!” I have encountered nothing of that nature in the departments that I have visited and I expect that I will not find it in the rest.

I have found people that have worked for the City for years, and they are passionate and proud of the work that they do. They help each other. They find creative solutions to problems that most residents are unaware even exist.

Civics is rarely part of a school curriculum these days, and when it was during my school days, the work focused upon the politics of government, not the work of government (and most assuredly, not the work of local government).

Simply consider the things that you routinely encounter or experience, but likely take for granted, on a daily basis due to the efforts of rarely known city staff: miles of roads and sidewalks, acres of parks, dozens of other facilities, healthy drinking water, sanitary sewers, economic development, and safe neighborhoods. All of those things happen because of city staff, and even others working behind the scenes in general government- payroll, accounts payable, legal, and the City Clerk. I actually get to work every day with these people!
Students, both high school and college, often lament the lack of opportunities in today’s marketplace. I believe too many people overlook the opportunities to work in local government. The jobs in government are likely not to go away for the foreseeable future. That’s not because it’s some cushy political appointment; it’s because what city government provides will always be needed. We don’t need as many typewriter repairmen now, but we will always need talented chemists to treat our water and wastewater (in exceptionally clean laboratories), we’ll need skilled mechanics to service the hundreds of vehicles from small lawn mowers to complicated fire engines, and we also need an abundance of labor for other tasks that doesn’t require specialized training.

My philosophy is that I need to offer training, challenges, and opportunities to every member of the City staff. I will be asking the department directors, and in turn having those directors query their subordinates as to “what they want to be when they grow up.” What are their career aspirations? How can I, as the City Manager, help a junior member of the staff accomplish those career goals in the context of working for the City?

I enjoy coming to work every single day because of the people with whom I work. I want all of those people to enjoy their jobs as much as I do. I need to encourage junior staff to share their concerns, frustrations, and hopes with senior staff so that we can serve the community better. I need to encourage promoting first from within so that staff recognizes not only those opportunities, but the greater opportunity to be considered for those positions. I consider it a great loss if we spent months or years training an individual and acclimating him or her to our governmental culture, only to lose that person shortly thereafter. We need to keep those people who really want to work for the City and those who we also recognize as key personnel.

Again, and this time more to the staff than the City Commission or the community, thank you greatly for the privilege to work with you and represent the City of Fernandina Beach.