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, August 27, 2009

Update: 08/27/09

Good Afternoon MJ:

The Parks and Recreation Department hosted their first Mt. Juliet Community Flea Market last Saturday and boy was it a great success. Bargain hunters and gawkers were lined up to get into Charlie Daniels Park well before the 0700 opening, and the crowd was steady until the event closed at 1200. Mr. Rocky Lee, Assistant Director of Parks told the MJ Board of Commissioners last Monday that by their estimates more than a 1,000 customers visited the 32 vendors with booth space. The Market was so well attended that the Parks crew are looking to another event in late October, just in time to give those with Christmas gift lists on their minds an opportunity to find just the right present. Stay tuned to the city web page and this blog for more on that. Mr. Lee also noted that even though it rained just before starting our first “Movie in the Parks” a couple weeks ago, there were still more than one hundred participants who stayed the course and enjoyed a great night of video under the stars. Rocky and his staff are looking to see when they might be able to do another movie. If you have any thoughts let them know.

We want to welcome Mr. Bruce Abbott, the newly named General Manager for Wal-Mart to our community. I know the community is excited to have you as part of the Mt. Juliet fabric. Speaking of new comers, we welcomed Mr. Steve Foote, the city’s new Director of Planning to the team last week. Steve comes from the City of Gulf Shores, Alabama, where he held the same position as he does here. There is an awful lot on Steve’s plate, but he’ll be out in the community asap.

The city’s Sewer Billing Division has been combined with the Mt. Juliet Finance Department at its new location on 2365 North Mt. Juliet Road. With this initiative the city now has a single site responsive to all financial issues (except traffic tickets) under one roof. Mr. John Rossmaier, the City Finance Director will assume oversight with Mr. Wayne Griffin heading up day-to-day operations of the Sewer Billing Division to create a more robust and responsive customer-focused shop for those we serve. On this note, I want to encourage readers to use our automated on-line sewer billing system. As road, water, electric and sewer construction continues on North Mt. Juliet Road getting access to City Hall and to the Finance Department will be a little more challenging. Our customers will undoubtedly find it much easier and convenient to use the on-line payment system. For more details check out the on-line payment option found under the “Public Works Department: Sewer Billing” (soon to be moved to the “Finance Department”) of the city’s webpage.

Finally, a special thanks to TDOT Commissioner Nicely and his staff for their efforts to extend our “Local Interstate Connector” (LIC) grant on the Reverse L to include 50% payment for the grading of 5 lanes as opposed to our original plans to grade 3. This effort will save the citizens of Mt. Juliet approximately $250k in immediate expenditures, but more importantly it provides us a ready-made platform to cheaply and quickly expand that section of road to 5 lanes once demand catches up.

That’s about all for this edition. I’ll end by encouraging you to stop by the Mt. Juliet Animal Shelter and take a look at the selection. This is a first class operation, but we rely on your support. Take a look at the WTVF - Channel 5 News story on the shelter by clicking this link: http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=10998488 I think you will like it. Take care MJ and talk with you later.


R. Robertson
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