EMPLOYEE EDGE FALL 2021 ISSUE
Coin Awards What are they and who can get them?
Fall activities! We have more interactive ways for people to celebrate the season.
Check out the updates from Human Resources!
UPDATES FROM AROUND THE CITY New hires, birthdays, events, activities, and more!
UNITY PRIDE ENGAGEMENT
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SOME OF THE ARTICLES INSIDE
14 1st Quarter Employee Birthdays
Work Anniversaries
Coin Awards
Check out what fellow city employees are celebreating milestones with the city.
What are they and who can earn them?
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Check out all of the employee birthdays we have to celebrate this quarter!
20 16 2nd Quarter Employee Birthdays A look ahead of birthdays next quarter!
Fall Activities
Human Resources
Get into the holiday spirit with some fun games!
Learn more about changes in the departments and ongoing projects.
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Misc. Pictures Check out the pitures from across the city from the last year.
FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE Check out some of the exciting and fun things that are happening across the city!
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Find the Logo Check out where the logo was hidden in the last issue of the Employee Edge.
Faces to know! We have pictures of different people across the city to get to know!
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Autumn Fun We have some fall “dad jokes’ and autumn mad libs for you!
City of Weatherford Message from Nicole Wright
Communications & Marketing Coordinator Can you believe that we are already in the last quarter of 2021? It’s been a while since our last issue of the Employee Edge. Moving forward, we will try to put out issues every quarter with updates on policies, trainings, upcoming events and more.If you’re new since the last issue, we typically feature birthdays, new hires, and coin award winners. We are excited to bring you a new and revamped version of our award-winning Employee Edge! The Employee Edge will have more ways for you, yes, YOU, to interact more with both the magazine and the Communications and Marketing Department! We are also looking at sharing more season information and activities to bring a little extra joy to our newsletter. Check out our city Facebook and Instagram to see more about upcoming events, learn more about new programs, and get to know your fellow Weatherford employees better.
Nicole Wright Communications & Marketing Coordinator The Employee Edge is published by the City of Weatherford, Texas. wwww.weatherfordtx.gov 303 Palo Pinto St. | Weatherford, TX | 76086
City Leadership
James Hotopp
Brad Burnett
Aaron Russell
City Manager
Assistant City Manager
Assistant City Manager
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On the Cover Bringing back the Employee Edge in a “digital only” format, we wanted to make sure the magazine was still interactive and fun. Along with featuring more employees, we plan to give special shout outs in each issue! Hidden on the front cover is one of our city logos. Time yourself finding the logo and then compete against co-workers to see who can find it in the shortest time! The first person to find the logo and get with Nicole Wright gets a prize! #FindTheLogo Struggling to find the logo? Don’t worry, we will reveal its hiding spot in the next issue.
Want to be featured? We want to share in your big moments in life! Send us your engagement, wedding, birth announcements, etc., to be featured in the next issue of the Employee Edge! The City of Weatherford is great and shines because of each and every employee, and it’s only fair we return the favor! Simply email the image, your name and position with the city, and a short description of your life event to be featured to: nwright@weatherfordtx.gov Deadline to be featured in the next issue is December 10th by 5 pm!
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UPCOMING EVENTS: Internal:
Employee Appreciation Lunch - Nov 12th
Community/Around Town:
Pathway of Lights - Dec 1st - Janurary 2nd - Heritage Park Tree Lighting Ceremony - Dec 1st Christmas on the Square - December 4th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Weatherford Lights the Night Parade December 4th - 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Upcoming City Holidays November: 11th - Veteran’s Day 25th-26th - Thanksgiving (Sanitation will NOT pick up November 25. Sanitation will pick up November 26.) December: 23rd-24th - Christmas (Sanitation will pick up December 23. Sanitation will NOT pick up December 24.) 31st - New Year’s Day January: 1st - New Year’s Day No sanitation collection this day. 17th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
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Employee Recognition Program
COIN AWARDS
#StrongCommunity #WeatherfordTx #TrueTexas 6 EMPLOYEE EDGE | FALL 2021
W
hat is the Coins Award Program? The City of Weatherford has a Coin Awards Program for the organization-wide purpose of recognizing employees that go above the call of duty and whose actions are worthy of special recognition. Coin awards are given to employees when they are recognized by a citizen, superior or peer. The award is given when an employee goes above and beyond. The award can be given for work completed during business hours or outside of work. Supervisors are encouraged to recognize employees and co-workers when their actions merit praise. For an employee to be given a coin by their supervisor, they must receive a compliment from a citizen or be witnessed going above their normal scope of duties. Examples: • Citizen calls in and asks for employees to be given recognition for cleaning up bags that strays have gotten into. • A Utility worker is given a coin by their boss for offering life-saving CPR while enjoying their lunch break. • A co-worker recommends someone for a coin after the worker helps completed a project that was unexpected but necessary. • A group of employees saves a deer that has fallen in a hole on a city project - citizens take pictures and videos and send them in to the city page and ask that the employees receive “kudos”. Who can recommend employees for a coin award? Employees can be nominated for a Coin Award by their boss, fellow city workers or citizens. They are nominated by emailing Tim Todd in Human Resources. The person nominating a Weatherford employee sends the reason that the employee is being nominated in the email. They should give as much information as you can to explain the situation. The Human Resources department will log the date the coin is given to the individual as well as place documentation in their personnel file. How many coins can employees earn? There is no real limit to the number of coins that an employee can earn. Upon receiving 10 coins, the employee is given a certificate for a day off with pay. This is done within the personnel file and the HR department. Employees do not have to turn the physical coins back into HR to redeem their day off. The physical coins are the property of the recipient. The employee can keep as many of the physical coins as they want, they do not need to be returned to Human Resources. Employees can earn more than one day off with pay for earning coins.
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WORK We are so thankful for all of the hard work and energy our employees put into their work every day. Check out the milestones that some of your fellow Weatherford employees reached in the past quarter!
30 Years Juan Fulton - Oct 31st
25 Years Rosa Palacios - Oct 14th Troy Garvin - Nov 13th
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ANNIVERSARIES 15 Years Chris Maxey - Oct 26th Brett Stagner - Nov 13th
Angel Rudolph - Nov 16th Roland Smith - Dec 26th
10 Years Angela Hutcheson - Oct 20th Michael Howard - Nov 3rd
Roy Vernon - Nov 7th
5 Years Nick Benson - Oct 17th Terry Williams - Nov 2nd Debra Kasparek - Nov 11th
Kyle Rodgers - Nov 17th Ashley Polvadore - Nov 29th
THANK YOU! FALL 2021 | EMPLOYEE EDGE
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CELEBRATING OUR QUARTERLY BIRTHDAYS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! October
Daleny Gomez - Oct 1st Taz Thurman - Oct 1st Diana Allen - Oct 2nd Brett Stagner - Oct 2nd Jessica Richard- Oct 2nd Pat Berry - Oct 3rd Randy English - Oct 4th Austin Foster - Oct 5th Eric Gomez - Oct 5th Jaycob Kirkpatrick - Oct 6th Branden Barber - Oct 9th Mandy Heunemann - Oct 11th Cristina Levrie - Oct 14th Michael Truelove - Oct 14th Lance Trinque - Oct 15th Katherine McKelvey - Oct 16th Kristin Seeger - Oct 16th
Eddie Hurtado - Oct 17th Keegan Dement - Oct 20th Justin Stout - Oct 20th Jackie Clayton - Oct 21st Chad Deiley - Oct 23rd Matthew Means - Oct 23rd Cherilyn Meeves - Oct 23rd Melissa Reyes - Oct 25th Bill Smith - Oct 25th Nathan Lee - Oct 27th Gary Miller - Oct 28th Kyle Capp - Oct 29th BIll Kreutzer - Oct 29th Justin Henning - Oct 30th Gilberto Ledezma - Oct 30th Mark Wolfenberger - Oct 30th
November Melinda Henry - Nov 1st Adams Sparks - Nov 2nd Steven Cox - Nov 3rd Terry Hughes - Nov 3rd Nick Benson - Nov 5th David Mote - Nov 7th Robert Bolling - Nov 8th Rachel Hamilton - Nov 10th Chris Brown - Nov 12th Tammy Yandell - Nov 11th Mark Furr - Nov 14th Michael Howard - Nov 14th Bryan Smith - Nov 14th Kayla Bumpas - Nov 16th
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Jason Lewis - Nov 16th Matt Chalmers - Nov 18th Ryan Whiteman - Nov 20th Ray Julian - Nov 21st Miguel Calderon - Nov 23rd Angel Rudolph - Nov 23rd Tristan Hudson - Nov 26th Chris Machin - Nov 27th Jeremiah Grover - Nov 28th Brennan Wheeler - Nov 28th Kalynn Alexander - Nov 29th Elliott McEntire - Nov 30th Paul Paschall - Nov 30th
TIME TO
CELEBRATE! December Steven Hathaway - Dec 1st Heidi Wilder - Dec 3rd David Secrest - Dec 5th Tiffany Vanzant - Dec 6 Justin Hernandez - Dec 9th Debra Kasparek - Dec 9th Bert McFadin - Dec 9th George Courtney - Dec 12th Zachary Michener - Dec 2th Kaylei Hickey - Dec 13th James Pittan - Dec 13th Michael Reiling - Dec 13th Brycen Martin - Dec 14th Karl Westendorf - Dec 14th Terri Brunz - Dec 16th Ricky Bullcok - Dec 16th
Mel Fox - Dec 17th Troy Garvin - Dec 17th Paula Rollins - Dec 22nd Gene Cormier - Dec 6th Thomas Short - Dec 6th Richard Hemler - Dec 27th Robert Williams - Dec 27th Devin Jones - Dec 28th Kelsey Sexton - Dec 28th Daniel Boone - Dec 29th Allen Taylor - Dec 29th Rodger Johnson - Dec 30th Michael Saunders Dec 30th Micah Ormon - Dec 31st Stewart Millican - Dec 31st Thomas Novak - Dec 31st
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A LOOK AHEAD, NEXT QUARTER’S BIRTHDAYS!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! JANUARY
Dustin Rich - Jan 1st Michael Rudd - Jan 2nd Chris Benak - Jan 3rd Larry Mastellar - Jan 4th Alexandra Herrera - Jan 5th Jeremy Williams - Jan 5th Chris Accardo - Jan 6th Jennifer Tapley - Jan 9th Bobby Laine - Jan 10th Christi Crawford - Jan 11th Dalila Noyola - Jan 14th Emily Pryor - Jan 13th Chase Bailey - Jan 19th Ralph Ramirez - Jan 20th
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Jordan Lashbrook - Jan 21st Aaron Russell - Jan 21st Nathan Campbell- Jan 22nd Jacob Yarbrough - Jan 22nd Howard McClurkin - Jan 23rd Valerie Munoz - Jan 23rd Austin Nichols - Jan 24th Gladys Hansen - Jan 25th Garrett Johnson - Jan 27th Ana Lira - Jan 28th Brandon Fross - Jan 30th Jeff Robinson - Jan 30th Casey Jones - Jan 31st Charles Tippie - Jan 31st
TIME TO
CELEBRATE! FEBRUARY Jill Allen - Feb 1st Pat Cherryhomes - Feb 1st Kristen Brown - Feb 2nd Brad Burnett - Feb 3rd Gonzalo Santibanez - Feb 3rd Daisy Mendez - Feb 5th Tiffany Bagwell - Feb 6th Tim Lerhrbach - Feb 6th Michael Marciniak - Feb 6th Roy Vernon - Feb 6th Terry Williams - Feb 6th Clayton Baker - Feb 8th Kevin Cleveland - Feb 8th Jason Morrow - Feb 8th Richard Tate - Feb 8th Jonathan Peacock - Feb 9th Cody Zamarron - Feb 9th Joe Hopkins - Feb 11th
Shari Weldon - Feb 11th Joe Farley - Feb 14th Eddy Steele - Feb 14th Greg Lance - Feb 15th Liz White - Feb 14th Trent Arnett - Feb 16th Sean Beck - Feb 16th Skyler Raburn - Feb 21st Blake Rexroat - Feb 21st Johnny Qualls - Feb 24th Ashley Polvadore - Feb 25th James Holland - Feb 26th Danenne Moreno - Feb 27th
MARCH Jeremiah Zeigler - Mar 1st Crystal Ortega - Mar 4th Josh Whipps - Mar 5th Michael Dannar - Mar 6th Shannon Goodman - Mar 6th David Sears - Mar 6th Allynn Fisher - Mar 7th Ashley Esquivel - Mar 7th Larry Woodward - Mar 8th Michael Ellis - Mar 12th Carrie Stevenson - Mar 12th Troy Dickey - Mar 14th Eveline Bake - Mar 16th Kevin Turner - Mar 17th Cameron Wilson - Mar 18th
John Shelley - Mar 20th Monica Butturini - Mar 21st Luke Hall - Mar 21st Cody Robinson - Mar 24th Dylan Swackhammer - Mar 24th Riley O’Donnell - Mar 26th Daniel Rodgers - Mar 26th Cole Burns - Mar 28th Greyson Cox - Mar 28th Brett Barkley - Mar 29th Alexia Palacios - Mar 29th Ronnie Villarreal - Mar 29th Jason Goff - Mar 31st Preston Harper - Mar 31st Kaleb Kentner - Mar 31st
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Fall Activities .
.
Word Bank
Community Court Edge Employee Fall Harvest
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Leaves Pumpkin Thankful Thanksgiving Turkey Weatherford
Word Scramble 1.
ytmmnociu
2.
tumaun
3.
wteraefrdho
4.
urte
5.
durgo
6.
iunpmkp
7.
ivtsefe
.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Fall Dessert Pumpkin Cheesecake Roll
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Ingredients: For cake: Cooking spray 1 c. granulated sugar 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice 3 large eggs 2/3 c. pumpkin puree Powdered sugar, for rolling
For filling: 12 oz. cream cheese, softened 1 tbsp. butter, melted 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 15” x 10” jelly roll pan with parchment and grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, pumpkin spice, eggs, and pumpkin puree until just combined. Spread into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 15 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, lay out a large kitchen towel on your counter (try to use one with little to no texture) and dust with powdered sugar. When cake is done baking, flip onto kitchen towel and gently peel off parchment paper. 3. Starting at a short end, gently but tightly roll cake into a log. Let cool completely. 4. Meanwhile, make filling: In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, melted butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt. Using a hand mixer, whip until smooth. 5. When cake is cooled, gently unroll (it’s ok if it remains slightly curled) and spread with cream cheese filling. Roll back up and dust with more powdered sugar. Slice and serve. FALL 2021 | EMPLOYEE EDGE
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Changes coming to policies and benefits! Human Resources Department Over the last few years, we have seen the city grow in our internal systems. Advances in software like Cityworks and Munis have helped us to streamline work and innovate our operations as a whole. As this innovation moves forward we are striving to ensure that our employees are updated and educated on changes that effect their work and retirement. Our Human Resources Department has been working to update our policies and procedures to best fit the needs of our employees. Please see below for reminders on where to find different resources and information for all full-time employees. In 2020, we brought back our Employee New Hire Orientation to help new employees become better oriented with the organization from the start, allowing employees to fully understand the city’s common goal of building a strong community across all departments and positions.
Munis and ESS Adding Munis allowed us to streamline our Finance and budgeting process and currently, our HR and Utility Billing pieces are in development/implementation. Our Employee Self Service (ESS) allows employees to use the paycheck simulator, view current personal information (including email addresses where pay stubs are sent). Employees can review their total compensation including employerprovided benefits and view their W4 (federal tax withholdings).
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Employee Self-Service Site You can access the ESS by visiting: https://selfservice.weatherfordtx.gov/ • Click the login button on the top right corner of the screen • Username: first initial of your first name + your last name (i.e. anichols) • Password: last 4 digits of our social security number. (You will be prompted to reset your password if you have not already). • Click Employee Self Service on the left menu.
TMRS Retirement website You can access your TMRS (Texas Municipal Retirement System) retirement information anytime at: https://www.tmrs.com/MyTMRS/Logon (please note that this site is maintained and run by TMRS and not the city of Weatherford). This site allows you to check your membership summary, check/ edit your beneficiaries, view vesting date, view retirement eligibility and run estimates based on program and estimated retirement date.
TML Health Benefits website For employees wanting to check for “in-network doctors”, view information like Member ID, plan number and more please check out the TML (Texas Municipal League) Health Benefits Pool website. You can also request and ID card for insurance, find forms, contact TML, view recent claims and more! Head over to: https://tmlhealthbenefits.org/ (please note that this site is maintained and run by TML and not the city of Weatherford).
Temporary Employee Policies For employees wanting to view our Temporary Policies, please note they are in a folder on the internal shared drive (J:\Temporary City Policies). We will update everyone when this changes!
Upcoming projects We are currently working to update a place/way to provide our policies in an easy-to-access way for employees both at work and remotely. This will be shared with all employees via city emails and in the next issue of the Employee Edge.
Human Resources is still working to schedule out more retirement and financial wellness seminars to help best set all employees up for success now and in the future.
Know someone looking for a job? We keep our job listings, job requirements and general (full-time employee) benefits updated on the city website at: https://weatherfordtx. gov/18/Human-Resources. If you have any other questions or ideas for future trainings/seminars please reach out to Diana or Tim via email, phone or in their offices located on the west side of City Hall at 303 Palo Pinto.
Equal Opportunity Employer The City of Weatherford supports inclusiveness and diversity by not discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, or any protected class. We are a supporter of a drug and smoke free workplace.
Don’t miss the next installment in our next Employee Edge to learn more about Human Resources and different programs offered.
Photo credit: Envato Elements
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More autumn fun!
Holiday Dad Jokes Q: How do you fix a broken pumpkin? A: With a pumpkin patch! Q: What is a scarecrow’s favourite type of fruit? A: STRAW-berries! Q: What do the trees say when they start getting their leaves back in spring? A: What a re-leaf! Q: Why do trees hate going back to school in the fall? A: Because they’re easily stumped! Q: What did the tree say to autumn? A: Please leaf me alone. Q: Why did Humpty Dumpty love autumn? A: Because Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Q: What type of vehicle should you use for a fall hayride? A: An Autumn -mobile.
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Q: What do you call a dude who really likes autumn? A: A fall guy! Q: What did the lawn say to the rake last autumn? A: Leaf me alone! Q: Why did the farmer have to separate the chicken and the turkey? A: He sensed fowl play. Q: What’s a turkey’s favorite dessert? A: Peach gobbler. Q: What kind of vest should you wear in the fall? A: A har-vest! Q: What did autumn say to summer? A: Make like a tree and leave!
Autumn Fun - Mad Libs
_______________ the squirrel had just climbed up the _______________ tree. name (#1)
adjective
It was the first day of autumn and time together many _______________ a thing (plural)
and _______________ for winder feasting. Chester the _______________ asked an animal
a thing (plural)
his squirrel friend to take a break and join him for a little _______________ verb ending in “-ing”
and _______________. The two buddies has so much fun but Chester verb ending in “-ing”
really needed to finish his gathering. He returned to his _______________ adjective
home to find that _______________ _______________ _______________ were number > 1
adjective
an animal (plural)
waiting for him to go to the fall festival party at _______________’s house. a name (#2)
_______________ realized that there wasn’t going to be any more work name (#1)
that day. Today has been fun but tomorrow he’d need to collect more _______________ for the winter. thing (plural)
Out next installment in our next Employee Edge will help you to stay upto-date on what’s going on around the city.
Photo credit: Envato Elements
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FACES TO KNOW across the city!
Blake Rexroat Director Communications & Marketing
Dawn Brooks Director Finance
Lance Arnold Director Emergency Management & Police Chief
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Diana Allen Director Human Resources
Shannon Goodman Director - Parks, Recreation & Special Events
Jonathan Peacock Fire Chief
Dustin Deel Director - Municipal & Community Services
Rick Shaffer Director Water Utilities
Chris Accardo Director Public Library
Joe Farley Director Electric Utilities
Kaleb Kentner Director - Development & Neighborhood Services
Manny Palacios Director Transportation & Public Works
Terry Hughes Director Capital Transportation Projects
Troy Garvin Director Information Technology
FROM OUR LAST ISSUE
FIND THE LOGO We you able to find the hidden logo on the cover of our last issue? There’s one on this issue too! First person to email Nicole Wright (nwright@weatherfordtx.gov)gets a prize!
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Miscellaneous
PICTURES FALL 2021 | EMPLOYEE EDGE
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MISC. PICTURE
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