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Home My WebLink AboutCitySlick_July_2012by Jordan Gilgenbach, Communications Coordinator Ana Munro Davis, an Edina resident, went on a morning walk with her mom and dog on Wednesday, June 20. Munro Davis was pregnant with her second child when, during the walk, contractions began. “I didn’t want my mom to notice, so I started walking a little slower and a little slower, blaming it on the dog,” Munro Davis said. By the time they reached home in the 5600 block of Zenith Avenue, she knew it was time. As soon as she got home, Munro Davis called the doula, Sarah Longacre a midwife at Blooma, who assisted with the birth of the child. She was there within 10 minutes, just in time to fully birth the baby. “I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly,” Munro Davis said. “My ﬁrst child took 27 hours after the water broke.” That was certainly not the same in this case. Because of some complications with her ﬁrst birth, Munro Davis instructed her mom, who was visiting from England, to call an ambulance as a precaution. She initially called 9-9-1, knowing there was a one in the phone number somewhere. The emergency phone number in the United Kingdom is 9-9-9. Mike Kregness and Brian Hanrahan were the two ﬁreﬁghter/paramedics dispatched to the call. “They told us ‘this baby is coming,’ when we left the station and by the time we got to Xerxes, they said ‘the baby is here!’” Hanrahan said. Munro Davis had given birth to a healthy 7-pound, 12-ounce baby girl. Hanrahan has only ever helped in the delivery of his own three children. In addition to Kregness’ own three children, this was his ﬁfth birth to assist with. On Saturday, June 30, Kregness and Hanrahan visited 10-day-old Keya Munro. “All three women there were nice and calm,” Hanrahan recalled. “My biggest fear was that, if this goes south, we can’t get a stretcher up the stairs and around the tight corners. Luckily, everything went smoothly.” “We all worked very well together. There was just so much love and excitement,” Longacre said. Munro Davis was eventually taken to the hospital. “The doctor told me, ‘well, that was the easiest birth I have ever done,’” she said. Keya’s name is “turtle” in the Dakota language, symbolizing women’s empowerment, which is a ﬁtting name, having been born surrounded by three loving women. A newsletter for the City Council and employees of the City of Edina CITYSLICK p1 Volume 15.10 7|6|2012 INSIDE THIS ISSUE 2 Around The Water Cooler 3 Techy Tidbits 5 A Day In The Life Of... 6 Where Are They Now? 6 Staff Notes July 6, James, Public Works July 6, Bruce, Public Works July 8, Tom, Fire July 8, Aaron, Police July 12, James, Park Maintenance July 14, Anthony, Police July 14, Todd, Fire July 14, Jamie, Engineering July 15, Joyce, Community Development July 16, Ryan, Fire July 16, Keith, Public Works July 17, Bill, Park Maintenance July 18, Michael, Public Works July 18, Lori, Finance July 20, Todd, Public Works July 24, David, Fire – Building Inspections July 25, Mark, Public Works July 26, Paul, Police July 26, Tim, Police July 27, Tom, Edinborough Park Two Fireghter/Paramedics Assist in Child’s Birth CITYSLICK p2 Communications & Technology Services The National Association of Government Communicators (NAGC) recently announced that the City of Edina’s employee newsletter received a Blue Pencil Award in the 2012 national competition. The awards were announced June 7 during a ceremony at NAGC’s annual conference in Washington, DC. In the “internal newsletter” category, City Slick received a ﬁrst-place Blue Pencil Award. The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command placed second. In the “media event” category, Halloween 16 received a third-place Award of Excellence. The Department of Labor (DOL) placed ﬁrst in the media event category for its DOL Hall of Fame Event and the U.S. Census Bureau placed second for its 2010 Census Center of Population. Fire Shortly before 8 a.m., Wednesday, June 27, the Edina Fire Department was called to the 10 block of Paddock Road on reports of a construction worker trapped in a trench under a large piece of concrete. When crews arrived, the man’s leg was pinned under the concrete. With the help of Edina Public Works and numerous surrounding ﬁre departments, the man was rescued after nearly two and a half hours of work. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he was treated and released. The man said in a written statement, “[The rescue crews] did a top-notch job and made me comfortable throughout the rescue. They were absolutely professional.” Human Resources Employee Recognition Event Moved to October All full-time employees are invited to attend the annual Employee Recognition Luncheon on Oct. 1 at Braemar Golf Course. The luncheon serves as the City’s formal employee recognition process; those who have achieved milestone anniversaries this year will receive service awards. Two seating sessions are planned at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Employees should check with their supervisors to select seating times. Having the event later in the year will allow us time to review how we are currently recognizing years of service. The Human Resources (HR) Department is currently developing a survey to gather information and feedback from employees about the process. Employees can expect to receive this survey in late July. The survey will ask questions about employee satisfaction with the current formal recognition process and what could be done to enhance employee recognition. City to Remain with Blue Cross/Blue Shield in2013 The City will retain with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) for 2013. As you may recall, the contract we received for 2012 included a 17.5 to 20 percent decrease in the cost of premiums from the previous year (depending on the individual plan selected). At that time, a rate cap of 8.5 percent was put in place for 2013, and that will be our increase for 2013. We will be reviewing renewal information for dental insurance and other beneﬁts in early fall. If you have questions about health insurance, contact Candy Fiedler in HR. Applications for all City Jobs are Now Online Each year, the City hires approximately 10 to 30 full-time employees and 500 new and returning seasonal employees. On June 4, the City launched an online application system to make this process easier for everyone. Going forward, all applications for employment with the City (full-time, part-time and seasonal) will be completed online through our website. We posted our ﬁrst open position on June 5, and very quickly received 163 applications through our online system! This new system will be a huge beneﬁt to candidates and hiring managers, as well as HR. Candidates and returning employees will now only need to complete one application for various positions. Returning seasonal employees can easily update their information online, instead of completing new application materials each year. Hiring managers and Human Resources will work off of one system so there will be faster and more streamlined tracking and evaluation of applications. Over the next few months, HR will launch an expansion of the system to include our onboarding procedures for new employees such as payroll and beneﬁt forms, computer and ofﬁce space needs and identiﬁcation cards. This will reduce the number of forms required for new employees, and allow hiring managers, HR and payroll to more quickly and efﬁciently track AROUND THE WATER COOLER Following is a summary of some of the projects of some departments, divisions and facilities. Other areas of the City will be featured in upcoming issues. TECHY TIDBITS by Katie Bisek, Network Support Specialist Ever look at the City’s phone list and wonder what makes the phone numbers different? Some show a full number and some only a three-digit extension. Were you aware that the City has a conference call number that allows you to speak with more than one or two other people? Read on below to ﬁnd out! The City owns banks of direct dial phone numbers in blocks of 100 and even though they go from 300 all the way to 799, they aren’t all 952-826-0xxx. Below you can ﬁnd a cheat sheet for dialing the full number. Extension Direct Dial Number 300s 952-826-03xx 400s 952-826-04xx 500s 952-833-95xx 600s 952-826-16xx 700s 952-903-57xx The following are facilities that you can reach with the three-digit extension: - City Hall: Administration, Building Inspections, Communications & Technology Services, Community Development, Finance, Health, Human Resources, Parks & Recreation - Police - Fire Stations 1& 2 - Edina Art Center - Braemar Arena - Braemar Golf Course: Clubhouse, Pro Shop, Executive Course/Driving Range, Maintenance - Centennial Lakes Park - Edinborough Park - Senior Center - Edina Liquor – Southdale - Edina Liquor – Grandview - Public Works & Park Maintenance Facility: Engineering, Park Maintenance, Public Works - South Metro Public Safety Training Facility 595 Conference Line Think of it as the City’s very own “Party Line,” for those of you who know what I am talking about. The City’s Voice over IP phone system allows us the capability to host our own conference calls. This is not just limited to phones that are on the phone system. It allows for outside callers as well. How do you use it? 1. Schedule the conference bridge just like you would schedule a room by viewing the “ED Conference Bridge Line” shared calendar in Outlook. 2. Here are the two ways to access the line: a. From your desk or a phone on the phone system, pick up the phone and dial 595. You will see on the phone’s screen “CONF 595” and then you will hear a beep letting you know that you have joined the call. b. From a phone outside the City’s phone system, dial 952-833-9595. When the call picks up, you will hear a beep letting you know that you have joined. NOTE: You will also hear the same beep while on the call when others join. 3. Conduct your conference call as normal. When ﬁnished, simply hang up. There is no need to stay on the line if you are the organizer and need to leave the call. CITYSLICK p3 and process the many legal and logistical requirements for new employees. If you have questions about the online application system, contact Terri Wilson in HR. Police The Edina Police Department’s Trafﬁc Unit on July 9 will begin a new two-week safety initiative aimed at pedestrian safety. “We want residents and visitors to remain safe and comfortable when using our crosswalks,” said Sgt. Tim Olson. Olson said the Department is concerned with trafﬁc areas where there are a lot of pedestrians such as 50th & France, the Edina Promenade and crosswalks near City parks. Through the initiative, ofﬁcers, with help from the Minnesota Ofﬁce of Trafﬁc Safety, will educate both drivers and pedestrians about crosswalk laws and enforce them when necessary. To increase awareness, messages will be distributed on ﬂashing roadside message boards and educational reminders will be placed on the City’s website, in publications and distributed through “City Extra” emails. CITYSLICK p4 WELL UNDER WAY: JOB CLASSIFICATION PROJECT Since March, the City has been working to update all full-time job descriptions. As you recall, the process for reviewing job descriptions includes: 1. Employee reviews current job description on ﬁle and notes any changes. 2. A representative from each position is interviewed by a TruSight consultant. 3. TruSight drafts job description. 4. Employee and Supervisor review draft job description and provide comments. 5. HR reviews TruSight draft along with employee and supervisor comments. 6. HR meets with Department Directors to resolve any areas of disagreement and ﬁnalize job descriptions. At this point, steps 1-4 have been completed for most positions. The goal is to have steps 1-6 completed by the end of July. We hope to be able to distribute the ﬁnal approved job descriptions to employees in August. This will complete the ﬁrst phase of the project. As a reminder, the Team Roles are illustrated in the graphic to the right. The remaining phases are as follows: Phase 2: Job Evaluation TruSight will evaluate individual jobs for the purpose of looking at internal equity. Internal equity means that jobs with similar levels of responsibility are treated similarly for pay purposes. Based on the job evaluation results, each position within the City will be assigned a number of “points” that will become an important factor in how the position is slotted into our new salary structure. TruSight: Conducts initial evaluation of all jobs and assigns points. EC: Reviews Evaluations/Points and makes recommendations for any changes. ELT: Approves ratings. Phase 3: Market Analysis TruSight: Reviews ratings against current pay and market data. Phase 4: Plan Design Step 1: Develop philosophy. Consultant: Analyzes cost of current pay levels compared to potential pay levels. ELT: Determines pay philosophy and the type of compensation structure to be used. Step 2: Develop new salary grades and transition plan. TruSight: Develops different options and scenarios to phase in new structure, analyzes cost of implementation and tests for pay equity compliance. ELT: Approves new salary ranges based on philosophy and budget. Continued on page 6... For the last ﬁve years, Lynette Biunno has been the voice of Edina City Hall. She answers hundreds of phone calls every day and ﬁelds a wide array of questions. “Every person has a different question or a different problem,” she said. “I’ve really got to know my stuff!” Biunno said she reads the newspaper every morning before work so she knows what is going on in the community and is ready to accurately answer any question that is asked. In addition to running City Hall’s switchboard, she also oversees the City’s general email account, mail@ EdinaMN.gov. She makes sure to route all email and physical mail to the correct person or department, which she says is challenging at times. Biunno has years of experience in the customer service ﬁeld. Before beginning at the City of Edina, she lived in Queens, a borough of New York City, and worked in a bonds and securities trading ofﬁce on the 105th ﬂoor of 1 World Trade Center. She and her husband, Michael, soon married and moved to Long Island. Once Biunno had her two children, Robert and Theresa, she became a stay-at-home mom. As her children grew, she decided she wanted to work in her children’s school district. There she served as a classroom aid and worked closely with the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). In the mid-1990s, Biunno’s sister and brother-in- law moved to Eden Prairie for work. “We always thought ‘it’s just a big, frozen tundra there,’” she said. The Biunnos came to Minnesota to visit and decided this is where they wanted to be. “As a New Yorker, you never think of Minnesota as a place where you would move to raise your kids. You think of Connecticut or Massachusetts instead,” Biunno said. “When we came to visit here, my sister took us to all these parks and beaches and it was beautiful, clean and so spacious. It was night and day compared to New York.” Upon arrival to Minnesota, Biunno started work in the Eden Prairie school district as the receptionist at Central Kindergarten Center. She also worked at the Eden Prairie News as a part-time receptionist. Later, she was part of the City Hall Customer Service Department for the City of Eden Prairie. Once the full-time reception position opened in Edina, she jumped on it and the rest is history. In her spare time, Biunno is working to become an actor. She has appeared in several independent and feature ﬁlms, several commercials, print ads and even on the cover of a magazine. She also plays a recurring role in Edina Liquor’s “Impress Your Guests” commercial campaign. Her favorite hobby is, when time allows, participating in community theater, singing and dancing. She also enjoys going on walks, visiting the beach and going out for dinner and movies. Her two children are now 27 and 24 years old. She also has two beagles, Lola and Snoopy. CITYSLICK p5 “Every person has a dierent question or a dierent problem,” she said. “I’ve really got to know my stu!” A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ...CITY HALL RECEPTIONISTLYNETTE BIUNNO by Jordan Gilgenbach CITYSLICK p6 Phase 5: Communication HR: Conducts employee information sessions and coordinates distribution of new salary range and transition plan to each employee. Provides an opportunity for employees who disagree with the results to appeal the decision. From this point forward, most of the detailed work related to the project will be done by the Evaluation Committee and the Executive Leadership Team working with TruSight. Even though things may seem quiet from a news perspective, there will be a lot of work going on behind the scenes. If you have any questions regarding this project, please contact your Director, Human Resources Representative Candy Fiedler or Human Resources Director Lisa Schaefer. Job Classiﬁcation Project Continued from page 4 ... EMPLOYEE MILESTONES Jeff Brown, Health, 5 years. (July 2, 2007) Bruce Kresoya, Public Works, 5 years. (July 16, 2007) Anne Spooner, Edina Art Center, 5 years. (July 2, 2007) John Theide, Public Works, 5 years. (July 16, 2007) Tony Martin, Police, 10 years. (July 20, 2002) Darrell Cote, Public Works, 25 years. (July 6, 1987) Steven Grausam, Edina Liquor, 25 years. (July 3, 1987) Vince Rauchman, Public Works, 25 years. (July 20, 1987) STAFF NOTES Police Ofﬁcer Paul Buell will retire from the Edina Police Department on July 27. He began work as a Community Service Ofﬁcer for the City in 1984 and was later promoted to Police Ofﬁcer in 1988. Throughout Buell’s career with the Edina Police Department, he has recognized and taken the initiative to research and implement new ideas to enhance the overall performance and efﬁciency of the department. He was committed to creating an automated night parking system, developed an automated patrol schedule, and installed acoustical tiles in the booking facility to eliminate excessive noise. Community Service Ofﬁcer Joseph Delgehausen was promoted to Police Ofﬁcer on June 25. Delgehausen received a bachelor’s degree in Sociology of Law, Criminology and Deviance and has been with the City of Edina since January of 2011. Amy Bachler began work June 18 as the new Police Department Receptionist. Bachler holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls in Education. She previously worked for Nelson Masonry and Concrete, Inc., as an Administrative Assistant. by David Katz, Communications Intern When Jim Halverson retired from the City of Edina’s Utility Department in October 2011, his ﬁrst action as an ofﬁcial retiree was a no brainer: a round of golf. Several of them, in fact. “It was a nice change of pace. I’d golfed plenty in the years before, but this was a nice opportunity to work on my swing and practice those troubling holes,” Halverson explained. “It’s something I’m sure a lot of golfers wish they had the time for.” “But after that, it was back to work for me!” he said. Following his marathon round of golf, and just weeks after retiring from Public Works, Halverson lined up a part-time position at the Lund’s location on 50th Street. “It’s fun – what I would call ‘fun work.’” He enjoys working with the staff there, as well as seeing and catching up with many of his old City co-workers. He particularly enjoys the store atmosphere around major holidays, “though any day can be festive at Lund’s.” “Where Are They Now?” is a new feature meant to give employees an idea of what their former colleagues are doing in retirement. If you know of a retiree who might want to be featured in “Where Are They Now?,” call 952-833-9522. beganemployment:1980 WHERE ARETHEY NOW? year ofretirement:2011 present