When I came into office in January 2008 as mayor of Crown Point, I had a great advantage or prospective that most newly elected mayors don’t have. I was a former city employee of the community I was elected to serve, and I also worked in the private sector in a position that interacted with the same community.
As an elected official, you get recognized as a positive leader by your respective community when everything is running smoothly. With that being said, Crown Point is proud that we have been recognized by the readership of The Times as the “Best Place to Live” for three years in a row and the “Best Downtown” for four years running.
I am the first person who gives those accolades and successes to our community, which is comprised of our residents, business owners, educators, and our city’s work force. Together, we “build a stronger community from within."
I want to talk about our great employees and volunteers who serve our community in Crown Point. Police, fire, public works, special events, media, IT, human resources, building and planning, parks, clerk-treasurer and the mayor’s office make up the 172 full-time employees. The city also has 66 volunteers specialty trained to help assist our Fire and Emergency Management Agency.
All the men and women serve our community with great pride and dedication. They work together as a team to help consolidated resources and share their experience which translates into great service at a reduced cost for our residents, businesses, and visitors.
In 2008, I established an “Employee of the Month” program that recognizes our team members who go beyond the call of duty. These employees are nominated by their peers, department heads, and/or by our people within our community. The nominated employee(s) are then recognized at our monthly City Council meetings and their story is shared with the community.
After the calendar year is complete, the city’s work force votes on the “Employee of Year” based on the previous 12 months of positive community interactions.
When the community takes the time to value our work staff, it translates into a better deal for both sides. You receive quality service with a smile, and our work force feels that they made a difference in your community -- partnership.
I know there are people who truly believe “we pay taxes” so they work for us. This is true and the employee will perform without hesitation, but I think we all agree that a smile, along with a thank you, works just as well -- and it won’t cause your taxes to go up, either.
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