CARES Fall 2019

BURLESON C.A.R.E.S. Citizens

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Appreciate

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Remarkable & Excellent

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Service

2019 Service Awards

35 Year Service Award Doug Sandifer

25 Year Service Awards Brenda Chrusciaki, Darin Pool and Johnny West

30 Year Service Award Melvin McGuire

20 Year Service Awards Norma Bowman, Jay Hutchison, Mike Jones, Jeremiah Lozier, Greg Mason, David Rosenbam, Rodney Schlotzhauer, Kristina Smith and Larry Sparks 15 Year Service Awards Frank Bianchini, Casey Davis, Mark Eder, Lisa Kay Edwards, Dallas Fowler, Karen Goodman, Nick Grace, Josh Jacobs, Fulgencio Mena, Scott Poe, Kenny Sanders, Claude Scally, Paula Skundberg and Shelby Stone

Service Awards cont’d on p. 2 CITY OF BURLESON | MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

Citizens

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Appreciate

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Remarkable & Excellent

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Service

10 Year Service Awards 5 Year Service Awards Amanda Cadenhead, Lisa Duello, David Franks, Elizabeth Acosta, Casey Austin, Billy Cordell, Carrie Chaz Garrett, Jeff Hart, Shelly Henken, Kevin Cotten, Rachel Cox, Suzy Davis, Ben Eason, Greg GregHunter, Jules Knight, Tim Mabry, Troy Meyers, ory, Donny Hallmark, Ron Martin, Kerry Montgomery, Rob Moore, Kelly Nerios and Jon Paul Wheat Shayne Morrison, Sam Negarestan, Drew Pennywell, Michael Quinn, Neph Ruiz, Shari Shepherd, Mary Ann Spaun, Jason Tauch and Michael Wood

Employee of the Quarter Collin Gregory Communications Coordinator

GETTING TO KNOW COLLIN What motivates you in your job?

I love this town, this is where I grew up, where I went to school and where I decided to return after the service. Getting to show off all the aspects of Burleson is enjoyable to me. That’s one of my big motivating factors.

What is your best customer service tip?

Listen. Don’t talk, just listen. Many people have complaints and they’re happy to yell at you... I mean... tell you all about it. Sometimes the majority of the complaint is solved just from letting them talk things out. Yes, you may become their sounding board, don’t take it personally, they’re just frustrated. Becoming a good listener is a key to becoming a problem solver.

Tell us your favorite customer service story.

We’ve had had several viral videos, but the one that I always go back to is one of the first videos I did after getting hired on with Burleson. It was a drowning prevention video. We showed what it was like when a child drowns. I remember the day we debuted it at the Fire Department Open House, after the video ended there was dead silence, and I turned to see people crying. One woman didn’t stop for at least 5 minutes. I truly think this defines what we do in communications, we inspire emotion that inspires action. I believe that woman walked away that day and never left her kids unattended near water. If we changed one person’s perception on water safety, then we performed the best customer service we could.

Citizens

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WELCOME ABOARD! • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Remarkable & Excellent

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Service

Join us in welcoming these new employees to the team.

Rachel Crosby - Customer Service Attendant Julie Walker - Customer Service Attendant Stephanie Colson - Records Clerk Donie Cooper - PS Communications Specialist Shawn Brown - Customer Service Attendant Kathy Fly - Library Aide I Stephanie Shlect-Maki - Library Aide I Ira Meachem - Assistant Golf Professional I Lena Reding - Lead Customer Service Attendant Destiny Davis - Customer Service Attendant Shelly Nichols - Temp-Administrative Aide Johnny Yates - Utility Worker I Veronica Sites - Victims Assistant Coordinator Samantha Chandler - PS Communications Specialist Julie Richards - Budget/Financial Analyst

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Sean Stone - Police Officer Will Allen - Emergency Operations Manager Kristen Wingard - Lead Food Service Attendant Kaela Holland - PS Communications Specialist Tony Buchanan - Police Officer Kendall Nettick - Utility Crew Leader Kolton Losawyer - Utility Worker I Dana Woods - Principal Planner Stacy Sieben - Public Safety Recruit Matthew Sims - Code Compliance Officer Chase Elliott - Public Safety Recruit Yana Ndingwan - Public Safety Recruit Mark Rankin - Street Maintenance Worker I John Fore - Street Maintenance Worker I

UPCOMING EVENTS

JANUARY

JANUARY 4 Member Appreciation Day, Burleson Recreation Center Time to start your New Year’s Resolution, check out what the BRiCk has to offer JANUARY 16 State of the City, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. First Baptist Church of Burleson Burleson Chamber of Commerce hosts this event where the public can learn about all the exciting things happening in the city.

Purchase tickets from the Burleson Chamber of Commerce.

STATE OF THE CITY

JANUARY 29 CityFest, Burleson Recreation Center Connect with city officials and city departments. Learn what the city has accomplished in the past year .

FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 8 Father/Daughter & Mother/Son Valentine Dance 4 - 9 p.m. Burleson Recreation Center Tickets go on sale January 7 FEBRUARY 14 Senior Valentine Dance, 7 p.m. Senior Activity Center Live band, pictures, dance contest and more. $5 per person

FAMILY VALENTINE DANCE

Citizens

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Remarkable & Excellent

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Service

Employee of the Quarter Teri Bridwell Animal Control Officer

Employee of the Year Teri Bridwell Animal Control Officer

GETTING TO KNOW TERI What motivates you in your job?

My motivation is the animals. Knowing the animals in my care are taken care of is my biggest motivation. I also enjoy making sure our place looks amazing at all times. This helps people realize we care about what we do and our animals.

What is your best customer service tip?

When an owner has recently lost their animal (best friend) I am as sympathetic to them as I can be since I know what it is like to lose my best friend. I think showing the citizens we care for their needs

and animals as much as they do shows our true hearts.

Tell us your favorite customer service story.

My favorite story here is when I was out on a call and an elderly lady approached me to just talk.

As I am listening to her story I realize she does not have any family here other than her disabled daughter. She had no groceries and no way to get to the store. I decided to go do a little shopping for her and delivered her some much needed food.

My First Job Don’t fence me in

In 1996, I got my first paying job during my senior year of high school. I worked at Payless Cashways off of I-35 in Fort Worth. For those of you who don’t know about Payless Cashways, it was Lowe’s and Home Depot before there was a Lowe’s and Home Depot. I worked in the storage yard loading trucks with bags of concrete, fence panels, toilets, birdbaths, rebar and anything that you could think of finding at a hardware store. My favorite story was when a lady showed up in a tiny 2-door Ford Ranger and wanted us to load her up with 12 fence panels. We tried to tell her it wasn’t a good idea... I still remember watching the sparks coming off the muffler scraping on the ground as she drove out of the yard. This is why you should always supervise teenagers.

-Collin Gregory, Communications Coordinator

Collin, circa 1996

SHARE THE LOVE!

Are one of your co-workers doing a great job and you think they should be recognized in the C.A.R.E.S. newsletter? Send us their story: dphillips@burlesontx.com or cstaton@burlesontx.com CITY OF BURLESON | MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT