Georgetown Citizens Academy: Management Services

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The Management Services Division is comprised of the executive and governing functions of the City of Georgetown. The City Council is the legislative body that provides the leadership and vision for the community, whereas the City Manager's office functions as the central communication link between the Council and the City organization. This office also manages the day-to-day operations and services of the City. The aforementioned were covered in the first session of the Citizens Academy program and documented in Volume 10 of the Citizens Council at Sun City Texas publications.

The Human Resources (HR) department provides employee and organizational support to attract and retain quality employees. In addition to HR, other departments overseen within the Management Services Division include Airport, Main Street Program, Economic Development, and Information Technology.

John Horne, a Citizens Council member, attended this exciting fourth session of the fall semester of the Citizens Academy that provided an in-depth view of key departmental functions. The following is an encapsulation of the session, as presented by the respective department representative.

· Management Services - Airport

The City of Georgetown Municipal Airport provides aviation services to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. The Airport Department is responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance that includes the supervision of fuel sales concessions, monitoring the leases for City-owned facilities, and the supervision of ground maintenance. The Airport provides 24-hour operation of a 5,000-foot main runway and related taxiways, ramps, and navigational aids. All responsibilities are discharged in compliance with state and federal rules and regulations.

The major, ongoing departmental goals are to operate the Airport as a self-supporting enterprise, to minimize the environmental impact of the Airport, and to ensure the safety of the flying public. Two full-time employees and seven part-time employees, achieve these goals. The airport manager utilizes the part-time employees as terminal fuel attendants, a bookkeeper, and a grounds maintenance worker.

· Management Services - Economic Development

The Economic Development department leads and coordinates the community's economic development efforts. It works to improve the social, employment, and physical conditions of the City by increasing the City's economic base and the availability of quality jobs. The department undertakes projects that will foster partnership among private and public entities and implements economic development goals and strategies adopted by the City Council. Operations of the department include business development, City and regional industrial recruitment and retention/expansion programs, and overall community promotion. The focus of the department is to create quality jobs, bring new dollars into the community, diversify the tax base, and diversify the economy in general, as well as to maintain and improve the excellent quality of life in the community. Significant accomplishments accrued during the past fiscal year.

The Main Street Program was recently reorganized as a part of the Economic Development department. Main Street's mission is to enhance the vibrancy and historic preservation of downtown Georgetown by using the National Main Street Center's Four-Point Approach of organization, design, economic development, and promotion. The Main Street vision is to preserve downtown Georgetown's rich history as a community-gathering place where a dynamic economy invites residents and visitors. The Main Street Four-Point Approach to downtown revitalization within the context of historic preservation has been successful in more than 1,200 towns and cities across the country.

A staff of four full-time employees efficiently and effectively handles the functions of this department.

· Management Services - Human Resources

The Human Resources (HR) department provides policy direction on human resource management issues and administrative support to all City departments. The department implements and manages the recruitment and selection of permanent and temporary City employees, including the drug screening process, maintenance of personnel records, employee performance evaluations, the grievance process, and the Employee Assistance Program.

The department also designs and administers the employee benefits programs, produces internal communications, and coordinates employee recognition programs. Additionally, it facilitates the City's workers' compensation and safety programs, develops the City's job classification and compensation system, and coordinates required training programs for City employees.

A dedicated staff of five full-time employees accomplishes all of the above.

· Management Services - Information Technology

The Information Technology (IT) department is responsible for oversight of the City's overall Information Technology Plan. IT also provides technology-related services for all City divisions and associated personnel. This includes providing and managing IT asset procurement, technical support, network management, email messaging, and website design and development.

The IT department was formed 11 years ago. In its first year the information technology responsibilities included network infrastructure, file and print services, desktop and laptop procurement, configuration and deployment, Help desk capability, GIS mapping services, records retention, systems analysis, and organizational strategic planning.

Today, the department continues to handle a similar, yet expanded, scope of services. These include email messaging, Internet access, systems and applications support, IP telephony, and server management. The department also coordinates technology training and provides consulting and project management services where needed.

The department supports a complex network infrastructure, multiple database and network system platforms with over 300 desktop/notebook computers. Sixty-five Blackberry devices are supported. These systems are managed within the framework of policies and procedures developed by IT and adopted by City management.

IT provides technology solutions for the City with a staff of one part-time, and 10 full time employees. The staff manages 17 networked facilities. The departmental support includes the following applications: Invision Financial Application, Police Department 911 Computer Aided Dispatch, Panasonic Toughbook Program, Citizen & City Service Program, Free Library Internet Service/Library Dynix catalog system, Fire Department FireRMS, Email messaging plus 65 Blackberries, Web server - All City Websites, Records Management System, Geographic Information System, Telephone System, Council Audio/Visual System, and WiFi at the Airport.

At the conclusion of this session, a very impressive interactive, online presentation of all City websites was given by IT staff member Erin McDonald. This part of the class was very well received.

The staff presentations were done in a very professional manner, with each presenter demonstrating an enthusiasm that is worthy of emulation throughout any business enterprise.

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Session 5 of the Georgetown Citizens Academy will cover the Fire Services Division that includes both the Fire Operations and Fire Administration departments. Watch for the report on this session next week.

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