Customer service

The city recently commissioned a survey to ascertain public opinion on services and community characteristics in order to identify strengths and weaknesses which ultimately will lead to improved services, a better quality of life, and more civic engagement.

Included in the satisfaction levels measured were interactions with city employees.  This is important as the front line staff - those who provide information, assist with bill paying, collect trash, fight fires and crime, and even give traffic tickets - are the collective face of the city. 

When asked to indicate overall how satisfied they were with the employee in the most recent contact, city employees were rated highly: 71% of respondents rated their overall impression as "excellent" or "good."

In addition to the overall impression rating, employees scored 75% "excellent" or "good" for knowledge, 71% "excellent" or "good" for responsiveness, and 75% "excellent" or "good" for courtesy.

While overall staff scored well, each of the ratings were below comparison benchmarks.  So we have much yet to do and will focus more on customer service in the future.

Being a public employee is an honor and with it comes great responsibility in serving those who depend on us - our residents and visitors.  And the better we can serve them with knowledge, courteousness, and responsiveness - the better off they will be.

City Management 101

When grilling the perfect steak, the key is to flip it only once - let it cook on one side and finish on the other.

Same holds true for public policy making and implementation - figure it out once, and stick with it.

The consistency of this practice will be appreciated in the community as much - if not more - than a good Kansas City Strip.

1 Gigabit Community

Bristol is a 1 gigabit community, thanks to our own municipal electric utility - BTES.

So what's the big deal about one gig service?   A lot.

With 1 gigabit-per-second Internet speed, you can download about two hours of video or 200 songs in just seconds.  One gig service is 200 times faster than the average broadband performance today, and is 10 times faster than the FCC’s National Broadband Plan calling for 100 Mpbs speeds for 100 million households nationwide by 2020.

BTES offers this ultra-high speed fiber optic connection to all 33,000 homes and business in its service area.

Major businesses benefit from the power of this technology - and so can you.  For more information please click on the following link:    http://www.btes.net/

Temperate

After what seems to be forever, warmer weather showed up this weekend and is staying for awhile.

Goods news for all who have been awaiting anxiously for bright sunny skies and temperate conditions.

And with the warmer weather comes the mowing and trimming of grass in parks and along roadways, keeping city crews busy with this springtime rite.

But it's better than snow and ice removal - by quite a mile.

Rigor

Back on March 7 I blogged about the new partnership of the city, industrial development board, and school system to share the cost of AP exams for Tennessee High School students.

With AP exams right around the corner, Director of Schools Gary Lilly reports the results of the first year of this initiative - which is exciting.

Last year 27 students took a total of 38 exams.  This year 153 students will sit for a total of 232 exams.  A significant increase by every measure.

The initiative seems to be achieving its end - to increase academic rigor and the push to build a culture of high academic achievement in our schools.

Now what could be better than that?

Splat

First Place poster by Jadyn Chapdelaine

Each year the Police Department and school system promote traffic safety by conducting a Traffic Safety Ambassador Program.

Included in those efforts is a poster contest by students of Vance Middle School.

The winning posters this year were drawn by Jadyn Chapdelaine (first), Emily Horne (second), and Tristen Bourassa (third).

Congratulations to all.

Toponymy

The scientific field of toponymy reveals 27 populated places named Bristol in the U.S.

These 27 cities, towns, or villages are located in 25 states (Louisiana and Ohio are reported to have a set each).

While Bristol is our favorite place name, do you know the most prolific of them all?

Riverside comes in first in 46 states, followed by Centerville (45), Fairview (43), Franklin (42), Midway (40), and Fairfield, Pleasant Valley, and Troy (39).