 My name is John Jennings, and I apparently am the city manager. At least I think I still am. I've been here for five months, and I have met many of you personally, and I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of you today. But I did want to welcome you. This is my very first employee service recognition reception. And so I'm excited to be here. I hope you're excited to be here. We're going to have a lot of fun today. Gina Tapp, Gina standing over in the red, helped organize this with a whole host of committee members, which I'll get to. Gina told me I was supposed to be funny and I was supposed to sing. Neither one are going to happen today, so I'm sorry if you're disappointed. I did want to welcome all of you, though, to today's event. We're honoring all of many of you for your years of service to the City of Portland. 197 employees are being honored for their 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, and 40 years of service today. And so we're very, I'd like to make sure we at least start off with a big round of applause for those people, the 197 that we're honoring today. I personally don't think I'll make it to the 40-year category, but I'm hoping. I also want to acknowledge the elected officials that we have in attendance today. First of all, Mayor Brennan is Mayor Brennan. City Councilor Jill Dusan. City Councilor David Brenerman. The ever-present City Councilor Ed Soslovak. Any other, rest of the City Council here that I did not see, because I do want to keep all of you happy. That's funny. I did. I made my other joke. So today we're going to enjoy a buffet lunch and provided by the Barron Center with special thanks to Mary McCarthy and her entire team. On election night, I got to enjoy Mary's fabulous lasagna. So that was quite the treat. I at this time did want to acknowledge and recognize those employees who created this wonderful event. So the event committee is comprised of Gina Tapp, which I mentioned earlier. Kathy Vosmos in Human Resources as well. Kathy, Mary McCarthy at the Barron Center. Mary Obretovich at the Barron Center. And I would like just an extra clapping for me for pronouncing that name correctly. Clarkson Woodward from the police. Jessica Grondin from the manager's office. Kathy Williams from Public Works. Keith Hansen from Recreation and Facilities Management. And Chris Farwell from Recreation and Facilities Management. And I would particularly like to thank Keith and Chris for being the only two males on the committee and supporting all of us. So thank you. Now at this time, we are going to have lunch. We're going to get up and go to and begin to serve. I did want to remind you there are, did I mess up already? Whenever she comes near me. Whenever she comes near me, I know I've done something wrong. Did I mess up? Oh, I did want to remind you we have fabulous door prizes over there. So during the course of lunch, we'll be pulling out three initial winners of door prizes. So please remember to put your name in with the door prizes during this period. We have for the very first door prize is a Kindle Fire HD6 from Amazon and the device is in color. So apparently we're making progress. And I need someone to volunteer to pick because I do not want the pressure. So Councillor Doosan, would you mind picking? And the winner is 7-7-1-754. Congratulations. You want to say something? Lance has a long speech he'd like to give to all of you. Congratulations on your Kindle Fire. Thank you. So the next door prize is a Whole Foods Market $100 gift card. 50 of that goes to me and 50 of it goes to you. Just, no one's listening. Gina, why is no one listening? Okay. Oh, I just want to pronounce this guy's last name. Chuck Kamelowitz, would you mind? See, see, I practiced. Thank you, sir. The number is 7-7-1-651. We have a winner and the last door prize for now is a Flex Fitbit Wireless wristband. It makes fitness a lifestyle. So, Councillor Brenerman, would you mind? We had some attempting cheating over here, but... So 7-7-1-723. Did you win? You're kidding. Now that may be... So she attempted to cheat, but she actually won. Congratulations. So we've got something new this year that we're adding We asked every department if they'd like to put together employees from the department put together a gift basket that we could raffle off. So I think we have 11 fabulous gift boxes today that have been put together by all of you from your departments. And we'll probably do... We'll do three now. And what we've got is everybody's name who's getting a reward today in this basket and we'll just call your name and you can come up and take the basket that you would like. And they're really, really nice. Thank you for all the departments for doing that for us. One little detail on this. You have to be here for win, to win. So if we call your name and you're not here, we're moving right along to somebody who's here. Okay, so hopefully this person is here. Phillip Alden from the Barron Center, 35 years. 35 years, he should get the whole table. He's taken the healthy wellness basket from HR that has a Fitbit in it and a yoga mat and all kinds of good stuff. Julie Hutchins, recreation. Julie and I are playing the lottery later, so if... Yeah, but she was trying to negotiate with me for the Red Sox tickets earlier and so apparently she got both. Kevin Heavey from Recreation Facilities, 15 years. Hey, Kevin! So we're going to give a few more baskets away. Julie is going to lunch, so she's not going to be eligible any longer. So, again, if you're the winner, come up and pick whatever basket you would like from the table. I do know she is here. Anne Machado from Planning, 10 years. Way to go, Anne. I just want to mention, when you're looking at those baskets, some of them have some gift certificates in them, so check them out before you select. Ernest Callello, Public Works. Where's... Oh, there we go. David Jackson, the Fire Department, 25 years. Way to go, Chief. Okay, Gene Frazier, 10 years. Planning Department. Wow, the Planning Department is doing very well. Desiree Kelly, 5 years. Congratulations. My gosh. Hey, Jeff, Jeff Levine. What, are these weighted or something? I keep pulling out the Planning Office. Chuck Fagoni, Planning, 5 years. The next winner, Jane Ward, Public Works, 20 years. Jane, whatever you'd like. Chris Nasa, Public Works, 5 years. Chris promised to plow my driveway if he won, so... Thank you, Chris. The next winner is Anita LaChance, 35 years. And it's the Public Works. We are going to start with the rest of the program now. So we're going to start with the reading of the employees who have been with us for 5 years of service. And all of those, the people who have been here for 5 years, please come to the front where Gina is and assemble, and then we'll have a picture taken with all of you. And we'll continue to go through all of the various years. So, the 5 years. Jamie Abiles, Heather Brown, Harold Carter III, Betsy Chapman, Wanda Cook, Kendra Egan, Chuck Fagoni, Roger Frichette, Mindy Grantham, Michael Guthrie, Richard Hebert Jr., Ian Housel, Alexandra Hughes, Bruce Hyman, Desiree Kelly, Brian Laflame, Jason Ledbetter, Stephen Lervie, Sarah Mayberry, Kathleen McCoe, Nicholas Meehan, Chris Nasa again, Zoe Odeland-Plotz, Jessica Ramsey, Bridget Rauscher, Jonathan Reeder, Kathy Richter, Brooke Cinco, Kimberly Susie, Samuel Turner, Marshall White, and Patricia Williams from Recreation Facilities Management. Let's please give all the 5-year winners a big round of applause. So, the next group have been with us for 10 years of service, and these employees have received a $25 Visa gift card. And again, if you could come to the front for the picture where Gina is standing. And we have Nelita Burke from Public Health, Lani Berry from Public Works, Teresa Bunn from the City Clerk's Office, Wayne Butler from Public Works, Cindy Chase from the Baron Center, Michael Cheverey from the Jet Port, Jeff Cole from Public Works, Adam Daigle from Public Works, Lorraine Day from Parking, Aaron Deering from the Baron Center, Tony Doucette, I saw Tony earlier, from Recreation Facilities, Dale Dyer from the Fire Department, Zachary Finley from the Police Department, Keith Forrest from Public Works, Gene Fraser from Planning, Travis Gibson from the Fire Department, Sherene Hammeth from the Baron Center, Daniel Hasler from the Fire Department, James Iovine from Parking, George Johns from Public Works, Bob King from Public Works, Jesse Lemieux from the Police Department, Anne Machado from Planning, Gary McVane from Public Works, Paul Marshall from the Fire Department, Scott Mason from the Fire Department, Mike McDonough from Public Works, Mike Moore from Public Works, Elizabeth Morrissey from the Fire Department, Ralph Monroe from the Fire Department, Lawrence Murphy from Recreation and Facilities, Donna Nelson from the Clerks Office, Don Noise from Public Works, Frank Pellerin from the Police, Richard Pierce from the Fire Department, Cindy Plummer from the Baron Center, Yerly Popov from Recreation and Facilities, Tom Regan from the Police Department, Anthony Reynolds from Recreation, Adam Royer from Fire, Bethany Sandborn from Public Health, Nathaniel Sparling from the Fire Department, Mike Taylor from Public Works, Leonard Tracy III from the Fire Department, Paul Vangeli from the Baron Center, Greg Vining from Public Works, Emily Weeks from the Baron Center, and Pam Woodward from the Baron Center, and Yuling Zong from the Baron Center. Congratulations to the all, the 10 years. Okay, we're going to move on to 15 years, Chuck. There are 35 employees being honored for their 15 years of service. Now, for 15 years, those employees received a $50 Visa gift card. And again, if you could come to the front so we can have a picture taken. 15 years, Gary Anderson from the Fire Department, John Brennan from the Fire Department, Cheryl Brewster from the Police Department. There we go. Angela Calvo from the Fire Department, Michael Carmichael from the Fire Department, Wayne Silly from Recreation and Facilities. Obviously, I need reading glasses. Carol Close from the Parking Department, Betty Ann Cotter from Police, Chuck Fornier from Public Works. I'm sorry, Joe Fornier from Public Works, Paul Halverson from Fire, Judy Harris from Public Works, Jonathan Hendricks from the Fire Department, Kevin Heavey from Recreation and Facilities, Scott Crume from the Fire Department, Tony Ann LaPause from the Barron Center, Alan LeBlanc from Recreation and Facilities, Kimberly Meehan Brown from Public Health, Roberta Metcalf from Recreation and Facilities, Marty Nay from the Police, Lisa Peterson from Social Services, Annie Kwam from Aviation and Transportation, otherwise known as the Jet Port, Sean Ramaz from the Fire Department, Craig Ronsley from the Fire Department, Lance Rabin from Recreation and Facilities, Christopher Smalling from Parking, Joseph Zeck from Fire, Karen Seymour from Recreation and Facilities, Gregory Smith from Public Works, Loretta Smith from Recreation and Facilities, Arlene Tangway from the Barron Center, Jeff Thompson from Fire, Jonathan Thompson from Fire, Deborah Toussaint from the Barron Center, Wade Ward from Fire, and Benjamin Waterhouse from Fire. That's 15 years of service. Please give them a big round of applause. The next group, we have 42 employees being honored for 20 years of service. And for their 20 years of service, each employee has received a $75 Visa gift card. And again, please come to the front for the photo. So 20 years of service. Ed Acedo from Public Works, Janice Ayers from Parking, Barbara Barhite from Planning, Rick Beaumont from Police, Stacy Bernier from the Fire Department, Steve Black from the Police Department, Charles Beam from the Fire Department, Steve Moshe from the Fire Department, Troy Bowden from Police, Donald Brown from Fire, John Cassidy from Fire, Chris Corey from Fire, Ed Dexter from the Fire Department, Karen Fecto from the Barron Center, Keith Getrou from the Fire Department, Chris Gizaka from the Fire Department, Police, God bless. Ann Marie Given from the Barron Center, Kevin Haley from the Police Department, Andrew Hammond from the Fire Department, John Hardy from the Fire Department, Julie Hutchins from Recreation and Facilities. Come on, Julie, why don't we just get us more stuff. James Keefe from the Fire Department, Ron Kelton from Public Works, Scott Labay from Fire, Harry Labreck from Public Works, Sharon LaPlante from Public Health, Lance Mazer from the Police Department, congratulations Lance, Kevin McGuire from Fire, Sean Neat from Fire, Pedro Neves from Recreation and Facilities, Michael Nixon from Fire, Sue Olson from the Barron Center, David Petricelli from the Fire Department, Chris Perrone Fire, Greg Perrone Fire, David Price Fire, Judy Rosen, I know her, David Smith, Recreation Facilities, Chris Stearns from the Police Department, Chris Thompson from the Fire Department, Jane Ward from Public Works, and Eric Weeks from the Fire Department. Please give a big round of applause for 20 years of service. So, the next group are 31 employees who have been with us for 25 years of service, 25 years of service, and all of these folks have received a $100 Visa gift card. So again, please come to the front when your name is called. 25 years, congratulations, it's amazing. Michael Brown, Parking, Ernie Callello, Public Works, Barry Cushman, Police, Kathy Early, Public Works, Deborah Estrella, Australia, Police, Australia, Australia. I got this crowd right here telling me. Michael, Mike Foley, Public Works, Brian Garrett, Recreation and Facilities, Milton Hammeth from the Baron Center, Chris Hawley from the Police, Kevin Henry from the Fire Department, David Jackson from the Fire Department, Missy Knight from the Baron Center, John Cuistra from the Fire Department, Don Creer from the Police Department, Benjamin Littlefield from Fire, Geraldine Logue from the Baron Center, Bob McMahon from Public Works, Richard Merrill from the Fire Department, Tanya Mitchell, Recreation and Facilities, Tim Nango from the Fire Department, Bridget Neuen from the Baron Center, Bill Nowicki from the Fire Department, Sean Perkins, Recreation and Facilities, Rocco Pesci from Public Works, Paul Royer, Fire, Bill Scott, Public Works, Henry Small from the Police Department, Robert Thompson from Fire, Michael Walker from Fire, Wilma Waller from the Baron Center, and Linda Weir from the Baron Center. Let's give all these 25-year employees a big round of applause. I want to know how many of you are in the job that you started with 25 years ago. How many? How many of you have had two or more jobs? How about three or more jobs? How about four or more jobs? Five? Thank you so much for your service. So at this time, we're going to do the last two door prizes. So let's get our tickets out. What is that thing? So the winning person gets a Nutri Ninja Juicer. Very exciting. I see all the things that I don't like in that. Oh, fruit, sorry. Vegetables, carrots, all that stuff. The next number, 771-650. Congratulations. Okay, the last door prize, an Irving Gas $100 gift card. Okay. $100 gift card for Irving Gas. 771-657. So we have, this is an amazing, amazing set of employees. We have six employees being honored today for their 35 years of service. This group, they've already received a $200 Visa gift card and their service award certificates will be presented as they're honored during this period of time. So I'd like to read the list and then ask the various people to come up and speak about them a little bit and embarrass the heck out of them. So the list of the six employees are Phillip Alden from the Barron Center, Rebecca Gottlieb from the Police Department, Rick Nolan from Planning, John O'Hara from the Jet Port, Terry Walsh from the Fire Department, and someone named Anita Lachance from the City Manager's Office. So at this time, I'd like to ask Ed Latham to come to the podium to talk a little bit about Phillip Alden. So Phillip, 35 years, working with Mary McCarthy, he should get an award, right? I think, yeah, we're a sheet. I'll never eat again at the Barron Center. So April 17th, 1980, the commander arrived. We call him the commander because the joke is he's washed more pots and pans than anybody who started out in the Navy in KP who is now a commander. So this is Commander Phil. Phil, the cooks enjoy Phil's work. I mean, one of the things he seems to excel at is there's a walk-in-freeze essay and he's in charge of making sure that that stays within the guidelines and keeps it spick and span and clean, but he likes to rearrange all the food in there so the cooks never know where really anything is. Right, Phil? But if you call him on it, he says, well, Mary said I could. That's Mary said I could, right, Phil? He said I was supposed to embarrass you, so I'm trying, you know. Phil is important in all the special events like this one, catering events, family, the family picnic. We do a family picnic for about 600 people in the summer, you know, the mayoral inauguration, you know, whatever it is. Phil can be seen what we call luggin' and totin' food and he's always with a smile, always willing, just like all day, every day at the Baron Center. The most important thing that Phil does is he always has a smile and he always has a kind word for the residents at the Baron Center and we are very grateful and lucky to have him with us. Phil's, we would guess with his greatest joy is he has, you know, the grandkids and he spoils them rotten, which of course I think is our job as grandparents. But, you know, when the parents say anything to the kids, the kids take after Phil and they say, Grandpa said we could. Just like he says Mary said I could. And, you know, we all enjoy that very much. Phil, thank God for you. We love you. Thank you. So, I would like to ask Jeff Levine to come to the mic to speak a little bit about Rick Nolan. Thanks. I think nobody has interacted with the Planning and Urban Development Department without running into Rick at some point. So, when I heard that it was his 35th year, I, as you know, he's really great with technology. So, I sent him an invite on GroupWise to have a meeting to talk about this and he never responded. So, I just had to come up with some good stuff. So, sorry about that Rick. I bet it's in your inbox somewhere. So, Rick has done a number of things to make the city a better place. He's a consummate professional planner with integrity and honesty. We all love his messy desk. We love his love of old cars, Volvo's minis, loves the blues, great father and I think he's not actually wearing his blue sneakers today, but I thought he might. So, one of the things that's really valuable about Rick is he gets us inside information because I think some of you know that, you know, the Bay Club that's downtown, a number of the movers and shakers in the city go work out at the Bay Club at lunch and Rick's a regular at the Bay Club so he brings his bag down there and he comes back with all kinds of gossip. So, he said, do you know that they're going to build like a 100 story tower over there? I said, no, no. He said, yeah, no, I heard it at the Bay Club. So, we value that immensely. Keep doing it. He's just a great guy. Everybody who works with Rick just says, this is just a really nice guy to work with. You know, keeps us all on our toes. You know, he likes his number two pencils. I think some of you knew that. And, you know, like I said, everybody needs someone like Rick in his other office to hold everything together and to tell us a few bad jokes now and then. So, I'll close out with one of the ones I heard yesterday. I'd never heard this one before, Rick. So, he comes back into the office probably from the Bay Club and says, I think it's spring. I see signs of spring outside. So, Barbara says, did you see a robin? And he said, no, I saw my first Winnebago. So, thank you, Rick. Thanks for all the stuff you've done for the office. Thank you very much. Next up is John O'Hara and Paul Bradbury. Would you mind coming up to speak a little bit about John? So, I have to say this is a complete pleasure to be here talking about John in his 35-year career in the city, which started in September of 1980. It was, he actually wasn't assigned to the Jetport. Then it was the parking division, which was part of the waterfront and transportation department. So, he's really a jack-of-all-trades back in parking. But it was less than a year, and John arrived at the airport. And I first met him in the 1990s, actually, and he reminds me of this every so often. That was back before we had gray hair, I think, right? Before we had gray hair. John was actually a member of the hiring team for a young engineer that came to the Jetport in the early 90s. And thank you for that, John. I guess it went okay. I'm here. Little did I know, 35 years in service, I'd be here talking for you. So, I could tell right then that John took real pride in ownership in the work at the Jetport. But, you know, with everything, there's always a story. And you look through, and Tom, when I started working at the Jetport and for the waterfront and transportation department, was the director at the time. And there was a story. And it involved a large car and plowing the snow with it. It was a... John had evidently done some snow plowing with this big station wagon. John was very energetic and passionate. And that passion very quickly made him the chief operator on one of our large ramp blades with the front end loader. And he was helping to run the snow crew very shortly thereafter. So unbelievable. I also look in the files and this energetic, passionate guy very shortly became one of our top person in meeting our FAA Part 139 inspection for the airfield. And John always said to me, Paul, I can make that airfield look great, but I don't know about this terminal. I hope the terminal works now, John. Oh, it really looks unbelievable. So with that, I just want to share a couple brief stories to show John's commitment and passion for the airport. One, again, a young engineer, and I get this message that there's a lot of snow on the roof and we're going to have rain. You know what snow and rain mean on a big long span roof? It means bad things for the structure. Well, John and his whole crew, they love to do big equipment on the airfield, but this was a job for shovels. And I was dreading coming to him and going after this, I said, he comes to me, Bradbury, what do you need? Well, John, I need this roof shoveled. We'll get it done. Sure enough, he had a logistics plan there and we had tons of snow removed from the original 1967 terminal building in no time flat. He said I was the one that caused the problem by messing up his logistics. And then the last one is from a customer letter that we received. The customer was flying out and I used this one for mentioning service, customer service and going above and beyond. They dropped their keys in a catch base and had an immediate flight. John and one of our other maintenance workers quickly had it up, had the keys retrieved and notified the person on the plane before the plane pushed back that we have your keys and you're all set. Great job. So again, John, it's been a pleasure to work with you for my over 20 years. I won't say how long. Wonderful 35 years, thank you. Congratulations, John and Paul. Thank you very much. So I have the honor of talking a little bit about Anita LaChance. I know. All of you know Anita and she hates any attention whatsoever. But today, celebrating your 35 years of service, we wanted to talk with you a little bit or talk about you a little bit and give you a few gifts. And Vanna White or Sally DeLuca. I first met Anita when I came to Portland nine years ago to talk about this idea that eventually became the main red cause. I was meeting with some people and they told me about that we should play this place at the Expo. I didn't even know what an Expo was and I happened to be with Casey Jones who used to be the head coach of the Boston Celtics that day. Casey was with me that day and we both walked into this place called the Expo on Park Avenue and walked in and kind of looked up at the rafters and it reminded both of us of a very small Boston garden and I knew right then and there that the Expo would be the home that I had brought to town. So of course you have to negotiate a contract to be able to work with the city and there was this wonderful lady named Anita Lachance who took me to the cleaners during those negotiations and I truly can't thank you enough because if it wasn't for that negotiation I wouldn't be standing here today. So it's an amazing turn of events that I needless to say those nine years ago I certainly didn't think that I'd be in this position standing here but thank goodness I am and I have to tell you that Anita is truly the backbone of our city government. She is our bedrock she is our anchor indeed she's our lighthouse she has served the city for 35 years through five city managers I don't know if you're hoping for more you're it! And also five finance directors and five HR directors Anita started as an intern in the city manager's office while in college in fact I believe that that office was actually the city manager's office that I currently sit in right? I'm in the new mayor's office oh okay so I was wrong about that Anita so she subsequently worked in the finance department the city manager's office the wreck and facilities department and is now back in the manager's office as deputy city manager I truly could not do this job in any way shape or form without Anita by my side and it really was a condition of me taking this job if she didn't agree to come back to city hall I doubt that I would be standing here involved in the management of nearly every city department during her career she does have that well-earned reputation as a tough negotiator managers throughout the city have relied on her her vision and this unbelievable knowledge of our budget she always just completely fascinates me with her ability to pull numbers back from 1995 about what we were doing then so and I and of course policy and personnel decisions that she's made over the years these are all the excellent reasons why we all seek out Anita for guidance half the time I can't find her because all of you are wanting to talk with her and need her her assistance she patiently listens to all sides and is thoughtful in her deliberations in all the meetings that we have had since I started an unbelievable counsel to me and quite frankly has kept me out of some messes she sees the opportunities and obstacles and it has an uncanny ability to figure out and how to navigate them so what's behind her success how many of you have ever been in a meeting with Anita okay so most of you so Sally so apparently this is this is what Anita does in meetings Anita loves to doodle she and next time you're in a meeting with her just look at her she's got her head down and she's doing this the whole time so that is that is an enlarged doodle and we're going to have that framed for her so yes so she is also well known for destroying styrofoam cups at meetings when she isn't doodling sorry Ed they're fake Anita also this is a bit strange loves bubble wrap which is why we made a bubble wrap red carpet for her today 100 feet 100 feet of bubble wrap so we know what Anita will be doing over the holidays and we also know that Anita is generous to a fault with her time and money and most especially with her holiday baking she bakes the best holiday cookies more than 12 different kinds close to a thousand cookies which have been banned at City Hall and those of you who have ever been in her office know there's an M&M machine that I constantly raid so we need that roughly around 2, 3 in the afternoon and so what we have done is we also have bags of M&Ms to replenish mostly for my benefit so Anita thank you for your commitment to excellence thank you for being my friend and thank you for all that you've done for the City of Portland over the last 35 years I did want to mention two people that could not be here Becky Gottlieb from the police department and Terry Walsh from the fire department both could not be here today Chief Jackson had prepared 30 minutes of remarks apparently that's why Terry decided to pass on this event and Becky Gottlieb Chief Soschuck was actually going to speak on her behalf and Chief we didn't want to hear about heroin addiction anymore so we're kind of done so we have two people two employees who have been with us for 40 years of service these employees have received $250 in gift cards their service award certificates will be presented very soon I am going to make a special request to John Peverata to keep it short because we all know how John loves to talk Alan Arnott from the parking division congratulations on 40 years John I had two requests to keep this quick one from the manager one from Alan so let's see how fast we can do it I'd be remiss though if I didn't give you some highlights of Alan's career Gina asked the 25 year people how many positions they've had with the city Alan said five or six depends how you look at it before I put this together I said Alan started with the city in 1975 at the former city hospitals now the baron center but he corrected me and said he actually started three months prior to that and health and human services and the welfare department distributing food and things of that nature but anyway after leaving the city hospital over to the police department became the second official parking control officer for the city of Portland in 1989 the parking division split off from the police department and Alan was then hired as the first senior parking control officer we had responsibility of the parking control officers and the school crossing guides and all the fun things that we do then August of 2000 he was appointed to maintenance worker one in the parking division meter division where he helped collect parking meter revenues from the meters repair the meters and there's about 1500 meters out on the street so you might see Alan riding around the van wondering what he's doing that's what he's doing now he's the only person to have a hold of the title of parking meter technician and one other final tip to it is he was a former vice president of the seabed union that's probably his most favorite part of the job because Alan's so many divisions and positions in the parking division his job titles just show his knowledge that he has the city parking division we appreciate that many times we have to lean on him and ask him what was this where was that he always has that institutional knowledge for us since Alan's been with parking division like many employees here in this room he's had to work outdoors in all types of temperatures the hot the cold the rain the snow everything like that he hasn't had the benefit of some of us that work inside where it's really warm and we appreciate that finally Alan's always been the big brother when it comes to safety we talk a lot about safety Alan doesn't talk about it at all you don't hear him say anything but he quietly initiates that with the other employees when they're out in the field I've had several tell me that Alan saved me today he told me what to do and kept us in the right way so that acts as a big brother to a lot of the other employees without imposing on them and the final thing is the most amazing part of Alan's 40 years with the city you never have to ask Alan to be to work on time he's always here on time and his sick time usage is minimal we really appreciate that we try to strive through that with everybody but Alan exemplifies it for us so hope I wasn't too long Alan thank you Alan congratulations and my condolences for having to work with Mr. Pavarotti the next employee who has been with us for 40 remarkable years of service is Charlie Shannon from Public Works in Troy Moon would like to say a few words so congratulations Charlie it's a huge honor to be able to recognize Charlie and I've got four pages of singles space type here to go over a few of the highlights of Charlie's career when Charlie started working with the city of Portland Gerald Ford was president John Belushi was on Saturday Night Live so things have changed a little bit in those times but the constant is Charlie taking care of trees in fact even before then Charlie has been interested in tree care and taking care of plants his father was experienced and he took care of trees back in the 50's and 60's and was recognized as one of the best tree climbing arborists in Maine so Charlie's taken after his dad in their long career with the city of Portland when Charlie started working his first job actually was to cut down most of the trees in Portland because it was in the 70's and Dutch Elm disease had ravaged Elm trees all around New England and particularly in Portland and we lost about 20,000 Elm trees so Charlie's job he was the guy who got hoisted up by a crane and had to go up to the top of the trees and lop off the pieces way at the top so that's pretty crazy I'm just trying to imagine dangling at the end of a crane here with a chainsaw and it's a pretty crazy job Charlie did it and he did it safely he's still here to talk about it all his digits and everything else so over the course of time Charlie has worked on a lot of different projects we enjoy our Christmas trees in Portland and Charlie has installed the last 40 Christmas trees in Monument Square and Charlie is not only good at cutting down trees he's also very good at planting trees and he's planted around 10,000 trees around the city of Portland yeah and we all of course remember some of the storms that affected our city for the most notable one was Ice Storm of 98 which is probably the most significant storm in Maine damaging trees so Portland was hard hit by storm tree damage and storms and Charlie and his crew spent over three straight weeks working long long hours to get that cleaned up to repair all the damaged trees if you enjoy parking in the wintertime you can thank Charlie because Charlie and his crew is responsible for plowing out the public parking lots at the schools and for the fire stations and city lots and Charlie was also recognized statewide as the arborist of the year the main arborist associations a macaic maddox award for outstanding arborist in 2009 and he was also employee of the month in 2009 and also Charlie is also very safety minded we have arborist work is some of the most dangerous work of any profession and Charlie is very safety minded and he takes looks after his crew very carefully and makes sure that everyone comes home with all their digits and no one is injured on the job and he takes that safety very very seriously for which we are all very appreciative and also he also has a strong intense record and we are lasting around and we don't believe that Charlie has ever been late to work in 40 years so that is a pretty impressive accomplishment and I just want to thank Charlie for all his hard work and for his care of the trees in the city without John's attention we wouldn't be the tree city and we are really thankful Charlie good job Troy Charlie did you start when you were about 10 8 because I've been city manager for about 40 minutes and not alone 40 years and you look much better than I do nice now comes the time where and I actually before I do this I just would like once again recognize both Alan and Charlie for their 40 years of service so could we give them another round of applause so every day when I walk into city hall as I enter into my office on the right hand side there's a portrait that I look at every morning of Bob Ganley I did not have the honor of meeting Mr. Ganley I have heard numerous stories about Mr. Ganley both on this side of the bridge and on that side of the bridge I understand he is remains a revered figure for many of you who worked with him for the years he was city manager I would say the city of Portland has truly been blessed with any number of the city managers that we have had over the years but Mr. Ganley certainly is considered to be one of the top if not the top city manager that the city has seen and so with that he passed away not long in December 23rd 2000 in the year 2000 having been city manager for 14 plus years and shortly thereafter the city decided that to create the Robert B. Ganley public service award for exemplary service to the city by an employee who does demonstrate dedication knowledge and passion for municipal public service which really characterized Mr. Ganley's life we recognize this employee on behalf of the citizens of Portland for the years and characteristics of efficient and economic use of the city resources the mastery of their skills the judgment required for successful performance of their duties and a commitment really to share the knowledge and skills with co-workers freely committing themselves to others all of these are hallmarks of Bob Ganley's life and so today we recognize another one of those employees that exemplifies all of that was great about Bob Ganley and his service to the city of Portland the selection committee was comprised of previous award recipients namely Mary McCarthy who won the award in 2011 Kevin Haley who won the award in 2010 Mark Spiller who won the award in 2009 Paul Bradbury who won the award in 2008 Kathy Alves 2006 Rick Nolan in 2004 Julie Kasich in 2002 and human resources staff namely Gina Tapp and Karleen Kessler and Jessica Grandin our communications director was also part of that selection committee this year we received 16 nominations for this award all the nominees were quite worthy and it certainly was not an easy decision for the committee but I will say having looked at this winner's application it is truly an amazing application one of the most amazing applications you could just the love of this particular person the commitment that this person has had for the city for the years of her service we looked off the pages of the people who wrote her application so with that I would like to ask Jeff Levine to come forward and speak a little bit about the 2015 Bob Ganley award winner Thanks John I was going to try to do this without mentioning the name of the winner but I think that's impossible so there might be a giveaway in here I want to thank Barbara Barhart for her time and service to the city I want to read a few pieces from the application but first I want to just mention briefly a couple of my own thoughts worked in a few different places that do planning and development review and every one of them has this person who sort of holds it all together but I will say none of them have done it as well as Barbara has done it in my time here in Portland she truly holds the entire process together from the big things to the little things bringing in applications, setting up the meetings working with the developers even at the end of the meeting she's making sure everything is cleaned up and that we're ready to go on to the next thing so truly an A to Z person and really I don't know how we would do it without you so I just want to emphasize that that's my personal thoughts and I want to talk a little bit about what the nomination said so I'm going to read some of it a work off of that a little bit I think it's well enough it's so well written, I just want to read some of it Barbara Barhart's career with the city of Portland exemplifies the qualities and characteristics embodied in the Ganley Service Award the city is truly fortunate to have such an outstanding employee she is a consummate professional with a strong work ethic who quietly but effectively accomplishes her job helping the public and her co-workers and I would also add the developers that come in our door through her actions she is highly respected by all who come into contact with her her selfless demeanor consideration of others, endless patience and integrity are well known Barbara has demonstrated these qualities in many positions as a planner, senior planner and now as our development review services manager in the planning division a little bit of an overview about her position she has one of the most challenging jobs in the city I know many of you have very challenging jobs but I challenge that Barbara is up there with many of you her constituencies are pretty much everybody she works with developers and property owners from people who have built skyscrapers to people who have never dealt with a city on a project before at all consultants and lawyers who sometimes are opinionated residents who also are somewhat opinionated sometimes city staff from various departments who are also somewhat opinionated at times you get a theme here the planning board and they also are somewhat opinionated sometimes other city officials I won't add the same comment and the public it's a challenging stressful job with potential landmines and she does it with grace and honor and serves the city well now back to the A to Z the application has a wonderful A to Z list of why she's such a great asset to the city and I'm not going to read it A, an A plus employee in her job performance and evaluation B, beware she gets things done C, she's conscientious and consistent D, she delivers if she says she's going to do something she does it and believe me in my position that is an incredible asset E, eager to help and support co-workers I'm always amazed I ask for something and I think oh in a couple of days I'll get an answer it sends me the answer it's amazing F, fastidious in her approach G, how grateful we are to have the opportunity to work with her H, helpful to the public and co-workers I, integrity J, jumps in to help others without prompting K, very kind is there a kinder employee than Barbara L, a listener M, motivated N, navigates through problems and issues in a common reassuring manner and she brings in food and goodies for workers I like that one P, persistent, passionate professional that sets a positive tone and I'm trying not to read too close to the microphone in her interactions with employees and the general public Q, quietly goes about her job effectively with little fanfare R, respected by her co-workers and the public S, selfless T, thoughtful rather than reactive U, under the radar performing work effectively V, volunteers to help others without a second thought W, a work ethic, second to none X, an extra special employee a little bit of a license there but we'll let them get away with it Y, for yes I can do employee and Z, a zillion other qualities that are too numerous to go through so I just, I want to thank you personally and on behalf of everyone in our office and department we just couldn't do it without you, you're the best Thank you so much, I am I am truly overwhelmed with this recognition of my public service from all of you and I'm just I wrote this because I thought I wouldn't be able to do it and I may not but it's an incredible honor and first I want to thank Rick and all my colleagues who nominated me for this as the support and the respect of my colleagues is just very important to me. Each day I'm fortunate to come to the Planning and Urban Development Department and work next to an amazing group of intelligent and passionate professionals we truly work together as a team each day we respect each other, we share, we support each other we get the job done and I learn how to do my job better from this amazing group of professionals who have shared their guidance and wisdom over the years with the department I have shared many, many laughs and we've also shared some tears at times but the group that I work with are my trusted friends and my extended family I'm here today because of them and their generous support and I share the honor of this award with all of them I also want to thank city staff as you well know being a public servant isn't always easy and some days are harder than other days but I'm always impressed by each employee's enthusiasm, cooperation and desire to do what is best for Portland I'm very proud to be a member of the city's dedicated workforce and lastly I want to thank my family for their love, support and flexibility which has enabled me to do this rewarding work I thank you so much for recognizing me today and I'm very humbled by your high regard, thank you so Barbara is part of receiving this award she also receives a $250 gift card and a week off with pay one more round of applause for Barbara please so Gina am I allowed to dismiss everyone oh Gina wants to say sorry John gave me credit at the beginning of this for me but you know that was not me who did all this and I just want to once again thank the committee because they really did a great job and thank you all for showing up this type of event is not fun and worthwhile unless you show up so thanks so much for your time today and thanks so much for your city service to all of us thanks and so with that the last thing I'd like to just say to everyone even though I've been here for a little over five months and have not been around as long as all of you I want to just tell you what an honor it truly is to be your city manager and to work with all of you every single day I have worked with the city in many different capacities whether it was the red clause whether it's Thompson's Point whether it was the 4th of July which most of you are still mad at me about for bringing back because you have to work on July 4th but nothing prepared me for the level of professionalism for your commitment to the people who live and work in this city quite like being in this job for the last five months and so just on behalf of myself I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for everything you do every single day when you get up in the morning you come to work for this city and so thank you and we'll do this again next year