Public Service



Three years ago after I was elected, I stopped by the City Clerk’s office to fill out some paperwork and set up my email account.

I sat down at Diane Burkemper’s computer, and I noted that most the letters on the keyboard had been completely worn off.  Diane said that they had been making due with what they had for so long, they were just used to touch-typing all the time.

Not long after, when Director Ron Colangelo took me on a tour of the Public Works facility he showed me some of the trucks that have been in service for so long that the baseboards were rusting out.

In one of my discussions with Ray Roberts, who took over as Public Works Director upon Ron’s retirement, he showed me the GIS (Geographic Information System) that is used to map the city’s infrastructure like water mains, sanitary lines, and storm sewers. The system is also used to document when repairs are made, but the software is so old it cannot be updated and transferring the data to a new system would be a huge and expensive undertaking. 

Two years ago, on New Years Day I spent several hours with the Ray and the Water Department crew at the scene of a collapsed manhole that had created sewer backups blocks away.  The crew had brought over five or six of the portable emergency pumps to the site, just in case, because some of them were not reliable, or wouldn’t start at all.

A year to the day later, the crew was working in my alley trying to find the cause of a backup in a neighbor’s basement.  They showed me the robot camera system used to inspect pipelines. The system has been in service since 1997, and the software can no longer be updated.

The Finance Department uses Accounting and Payroll software that is over fifteen years old, and needs to be upgraded.

More than once, I have stopped by City Hall in the evening on my way home from the train and found Barbara Fitz-Henley still working in the Finance Office after everyone else has left for the day. I have found Sheryl Spooner the City Clerk staying late prepping for a Council Meeting, and David Knabel, the City Administrator regularly comes in to work on the weekends.

I have spoken with Firefighters and Police officers working overtime to cover shifts because of under-staffing, and supervisors doing extra administrative work because of years of staff cutbacks.

I have ridden with ESDA (Emergency Services and Disaster Agency) volunteers patrolling the neighborhoods during Halloween Trick or Treat hours, just making sure everyone is safe.  I have seen them respond at all hours of the day or night, often in the worst weather to help secure an accident scene or direct traffic. Often, they are using hand-me down vehicles and equipment, or even buying their own.

I wanted to share these few examples out of many to illustrate what I have found in my three years as Commissioner; that overall, our city employees are conscientious and dedicated public servants.

They regularly find ways to innovate and economize, make due with old and outdated equipment, and stretch every tax dollar as far as possible in order to provide the services we demand.

This is especially evident during this current crisis that even with the restrictions needed for both their protection and the public’s, they are still doing their jobs.

Serving the public, and for my part they have my thanks.

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If you have questions or comments about the City of Zion, you can email me at christopherf@zion.il.us
 

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