1. This won’t be a “blog” per se. It isn’t meant to be a place to post all commentary or opinions. Everyone is invited to send in a note, but don’t be offended if it isn’t posted. There’s other sites that are perfectly content to drag through what they believe to be wrong with every issue at every turn. This is about what was done, why and where do we go from here. We won’t talk about two and three year old issues. If the desire is to engage in those discussions then look somewhere else.

2. This isn’t the Board of Commissioner forum. MJ has a City Manager form of government. The Board makes policy; the staff implements. I’ll be happy to pass your comments along to the Board, either good or bad, but the intent of this medium is to address how we could better enact policy and improve city services.

3. The narratives will be directly from me, your city manager. I won’t hide under some pseudonym or other persona. My name is Randy Robertson. My phone number is 754-2552. I am your City Manager. If your issue or concerns involves another department of the city (Public Works, Police, Animal Control, etc.) I will invite the appropriate team member to provide some comments, but it will still be done under the auspices of the City Manager.

4. I will try and be as timely as possible, but this is another one of the “additional duties” for which civil service is renown.

5. The City Staff is here for you. The desired outcome is for us to have a positive relationship with the citizens we serve, but we all know that always won’t happen. Everyone has an opinion. It is the staff’s responsibility to work through the opinions and emotion, meet the requirements of the laws and rules under which we operate, and hopefully serve the greatest number in that process. It is not an exact science. The more we have a relationship with you, the better we can meet your expectations.

6. Finally, this is about telling our story. Hopefully you will be able to sort the myth from reality or see the issue through a different set of lens. I hope you will find this of value and participate.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Update: 1/7/09

Hello MJ:

My purpose in writing this morning is to thank the nearly 100 citizens who came out to City Hall last night to listen to our staff update. By every comment we received, those attending or who watched the live broadcast felt the event was informative and valuable. I particularly want to thank the city’s various Home Owner Associations for coming out in force. Mt. Juliet has a large number of engaged citizens actively involved in the daily operations and decision making of their individual communities. Last night’s opportunity for the HOA leaders in the audience to interact with their colleagues and with representatives of the city seems to have been extremely well received.

The slides from the session will be posted today on the city’s web page. You are invited and encouraged to refer to or use them in any training or residential update discussions.
The direct link to those slides is here: http://www.egovlink.com/mtjuliet/docs/menu/home.asp?path=/public_documents300/mtjuliet/published_documents/Presentation+Archive
OR you can find them in the Documents & Video section on the home page.

I will also repeat the offer for any of the senior city staff to meet with and update civic or community groups here in Mt. Juliet. Our job is to serve.

Finally thanks to those of you who have commented about the editorials carried in both the MJ News and Chronicle regarding the juvenile destruction of the football field at Mundy Park during the holidays. We are actively working with the legal authorities to try and have these young men perform community service within the Park as well as make restitution for the damage. The judicial process is not fast, particularly when it comes to youthful offenders, but we will stay the course.

And don’t forget to go onto the city web page and register for our email alerts. I have asked Mr. Taylor, our I.T. Director to add these blog messages to the alert system.

Take care and stay safe.

Sincerely,

R. Robertson
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