So I listened to the candidate debate (Bill McEwen’s KYNO show, found here: http://www.940kyno.com/index.php?id=377)
I was disappointed to hear Pete claim to be converting Assessor record forms to electronic versions, with the assistance or approval of his supervisor. I hope he isn’t referring to the numerous forms that were converted a couple of years ago by one of the other appraisers (now retired) and one of the systems analysts. There are enough people in this office already taking credit for someone else’s work. I hope we don’t add one more.
And don’t get me started on the non-logic of re-creating a tedious manual process into a tedious electronic process. Can’t ANYONE step back to look at the entire process and work from there?
Leaders think BIG. And I think we just found out something about Pete’s leadership skills. He thinks small. This isn’t Sanger, Pete.
And sadly, he vocalized additional ignorance during the debate But that was true of all of them. Pete! HINT: those 6-page forms you mentioned are BOE-mandated and untouchable. I would hope you’d learned that over the last three years. How many other critical mandated processes are you ignorant of? Is this the first year you bothered to read the BOE survey? The other leaders in the office read it every year.
The other candidates didn’t fare much better. Tim certainly missed his opportunity to shine, although his attempted dig at Pete did provide much amusement. HINT for Tim: never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.
no donations? totally self-funded? our own local Meg Whitman! except of course she ran eBay, a multi-million-dollar progressive non-misogynistic internet company instead of limping along at the helm of an antediluvian good ol’ boy guvamint office where policy is set by default — or by the squawkiest employees.
Just wondering … would more work get done, maybe make an occasional decision about something once in a while, if so much time wasn’t spent monitoring everyone’s email, message by message by message, looking for bits of ammunition for future vindictive usage.
Blah blah blah, no reasonable expectation of privacy (especially post-Ontario v. Quon?) but really? Is this the best possible use of your time? Or the best use of our tax dollars?
Jeepers, who has that kind of time? I have work to do. Do you need something constructive to occupy your workday? Because I will be happy to share my work. There’s plenty, you know.
Editorial commentary aside, time spent monitoring employee emails is time spent not actually managing. Leaders need the ability to stay focused on important things.
Why are you surprised that he didn’t tell you he was getting married last Saturday?
It’s really none of your business, after all. Personal information, not relevant to work.
You know what might affect you at work every single day in future? The fact that he is running for Assessor. I could see where that might impact your workday.
And he didn’t really mention that either, did he?
So why would you think you are privy to wedding plans, of all things?
You might take note, however. You have just learned your place in the food chain. I am sure there are Assessor employees who were aware and may even have been invited guests. No doubt they will have an equally significant place in the new world order.
Very strange timing, though.
OK, so I can be an idiot too. I wrote this some time ago, but apparently failed to click publish. This has been sitting in the Draft folder since - ? Since the day after it happened, I guess.
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So Tim spent part of his morning sitting out front in courthouse park with a petition. I assume he was off the clock, at lunch or on annual leave. Is he also supposed to be a certain number of feet from the office while campaigning, if this counts as campaigning?? Or is that just polling places?
And apparently it’s okay to permit your secretary to spend her workday trying to encourage or coerce staff to sign Tim’s signatures in lieu of fees petition. Although she would not say what the petition was for or why she was insisting that we should demonstrate our support- “Go in and tell him you want to sign his petition.” And suggesting that other people use their County email to let their staff know that Tim would be outside collecting signatures at a particular time - seems improper.
Regardless of legality, it seems inappropriate. And rude, in a way. We aren’t good enough to announce your candidacy to, but you’ll accept our signatures to save a few bucks.
Maybe I’m just looking for things to whine about.
Perpetual candidate and possible assessor Paul Dictos was spotted at the Elections Office pounding on the counter and demanding immediate service.
Paul, those invisible little people you treat so condescendingly and disrespectfully are the tiny cogs that keep your world running and they are not only worthy of your respect, they deserve it.
And you have just demonstrated that you are not worthy of their respect. This is no way to run for office.
Hey, so there is news! Not yet sure if it’s good.
There is a dark horse in the race. And – it’s a SHE.
Yes, a lady Assessor.
Carole Laval filed her papers at Elections on January 25, 2010.
First thought: she’s a private sector professional real property appraiser. (Laval & Associates, Fresno) Although expected, still worrisome. I had very high hopes for Vicki Crow (as a private sector professional lady CPA) once she was elected and although she had a promising start, things have deteriorated badly.
Next thought: thank Sergei for the proprietary Google search engine algorithms. Apparently Ms. Laval is a member of the Fresno Women’s Network and the Fresno Democrats. She also does a lot of public speaking on serious topics like Senate bills. Oops, Senate bills on client pressure and the consequences for trying to coerce an agent to commit fraud - maybe not good. Are clients really abusing the agents now? I guess I always thought things leaned mostly the other way. Disclaimer: I haven’t actually read SB223 so this is pure speculation and conjecture. But she seems to be a big supporter of equality, too often known as “that women’s rights stuff” where I work.
So far all the dirt I can find on her seems fairly benign if not actually quietly remarkable. She seems to be doing things because she enjoys them; not plotting what groups to join to maximize business opportunities or optimize a run for office. Refreshing!
Long-time government employees have a healthy fear of private sector and with good cause. The private sector often thinks they are experts on how government should work, but it’s not as easy as you’d think to get things changed and not for the reasons you’d think. Do you really think people want to seem useless and incompetent? Most of us are doing the best we can in the impossible circumstances we have to work in. And working with private sector (especially management) is difficult until they finally learn that this is harder than it looks.
To those of you who have been dismissing this as the whining of a disgruntled employee, please stop. I am not disgruntled. I am actually relatively content. I have managed to find something in my job that I like to do and most of the time I can ignore or tolerate the relentless stupidity and conflict.
However, I am an angry taxpayer. And as a taxpayer, every person in that office answers to me. (The reverse is true as well, of course.) You may be the boss, but I am still your boss. So while you may not enjoy it (much as I don’t always enjoy listening to you), part of your job description is to listen to my opinion, no matter what you may think of it or what you may think of me.
As a taxpayer, I don’t like the way you are spending my money. I believe other taxpayers would agree. In fact, I think that you believe that taxpayers would not like the way you are spending ouAr money which is why there is so much defensiveness. Without trying too hard, I can think of fifteen shameful office policies that would have you answering difficult questions in front of the board if those policies wound up on the front page of the bee. But we are all about protecting the status quo regardless of how useless or expensive it is.
I guess I expected better from such vocal Christian people, but I should remember the difficulties many Christians seem to have with hypocrisy. And with ethics. It’s not enough to just attend church. You also need to listen and absorb and practice wisdom and ethics all the time. Especially when dealing with public funds.
O, if I were king.
New rule #1- GPS on every car. Reduce wasted miles, time lost while being lost, and I think we are long overdue for a reminder that you people are supposed to be working for 40 full hours each week AND that means working, not getting your car washed, going to the ATM, and knocking off early every day. Once you start acting like a professional again, we can treat you that way again. I think we’d keep the GPS a secret for a while just to see how bad the abuse is. I may start a list of who goes first. There is trusting your staff to be honest, and then there is being taken advantage of. There is no shame in refusing to be taken advantage of. Stop worrying that no one will like you anymore and grow a pair.
I am not just being a jerk. GPS could optimize trips and save time and fuel as well as reduce mileage reimbursement costs. There is also an issue of safety, for their own protection - staff jokes about driving thru stop signs because they were reading the map in the file on their lap but really, that’s not funny. (Jeez, think of the liability if someone got hurt by a careless appraiser!) And staff out alone in the field with often angry taxpayers might also appreciate GPS tracking.
#2 - No More Paper!! Stop blowing smoke up the BOS’ ass and just do it. We have wasted enough money waiting for our blonde brunette to figure things out. Everyone scans their records before they leave for “field inspections”. Period. Eventually, you’re done. In the meantime, you have what you need at hand. (Details upon request.) Get our blonde brunette to get our expensive document management system to work like it’s supposed to. We’re already paying for this check in, check out technology. Let’s use it. Let me rephrase we’ve been paying for this check in, check out technology for five years now. Let’s start using it.
#3 -wipeth thy own ass. We are all overworked. If you’ve got time to hold hen parties in the training room, you have time to do some actual work. Stop foisting everything off on the help. Lose the time-consuming labor-intensive manual processes and stop defending the asinine status quo. Things are going to have to change for everyone. Accept it and move on. The budget is only going to get worse. We need to learn to work smarter faster, and we need to learn it quick.
#4 - no more rewarding people for bad behavior, taxpayers or staff. People who whine or pitch fits should not get their way while we ignore or abuse those who play fair. Too many #$#@ examples to list.
There is more.
What in the name of all that is holy does it take to get fired from this place?
Missing work because you’re in jail for smacking a police officer with a patio brick when he tried to break up yet another domestic dispute? No.
Getting another DUI and losing the driver’s license required as a condition of your employment? No. What if it’s suspended for a solid year? Not a problem, we’ll just “keep you on counter duty” until you get your license back. What if you get bored after a month of counter (”bored”? More likely tired of actually having to work instead of goofing off on the clock or napping in your car) and you decide to spend your days in the lunchroom playing kissyface with someone else’s wife? Still not enough to get fired.
Getting caught red-handed destroying county records? No. Getting caught destroying county records again, the very next day? Sadly, still not enough to get fired.
Going out on disability for a few weeks to have surgery and going AWOL by not returning to work for thirteen months? No doctor’s notes or phone calls? No. (although we are happy to harass those employees who are out on actual documented paid sick leave.)
Sexual harassment? Not even when the lady’s husband threatens to call the cops if the phone calls don’t stop.
Racial harassment? No, not even a wrist-slap in these enlightened times.
Running personal errands under the guise of “field inspections”? No, apparently we actually encourage this.
Cooking the books a little so you can get new office furniture for you & your buddy from “untouchable” trust funds? Personal desktop scanners while your working staff scrabbles over staplers? A new all-in-one printer/fax/scanner for your incompetent nonworking assistant’s desktop whilst refusing to replace a broken fax shared by two divisions? Not even.
Running a personal business on county time? Spending your workdays at the business while claiming to be in offsite meetings? Even more insulting, claiming that you need precious reserved parking to accommodate your “busy” schedule? No, no, no.
Identity theft, collecting personal information during the course of your job and converting it to your own personal use? Using county equipment to perpetuate a fraud for criminal gain? A few people were thinking this might be not just a firing offense but an actual crime. Apparently it is not considered a misdeed if management is in a hurry to go make a speech. Some people might think this activity could be reported after the speechifying, just in case there might be a problem. But after reflection, it was determined to be no one’s business.
Unfreakingbelievable.
so, how to share, without becoming a target?
obviously anyonebutTim.com knows someone who may or may not work at the Assessor’s Office but certainly seems to know an awful lot about what goes on there.
watch this space for more commentary-slash-editorial verbiage direct from the source.