Tyler Wallace is our new Finance Director will start October 24th.

Interviews are scheduled for the Engineering Technician in Public Works the 1st week of October.

Kim Yamashita ended her interim assignment as of Police Chief.

Police are conducting another set of oral boards for their current openings. The goal is to have offers out and finish all backgrounds by next month.

Conversations started for the City Manager review process with two selected council members who will be assisting in the implementation process. The goal will be for the review to start next month.

Police Chief Patrick Huskey started on August 1st, 2024

An interview for the Finance Director was held on August 1st with Department Heads and Finance staff and an offer was extended.

Two staff retired from the City of Sandy this month. Chris Wilhelmi our Assistant Library Director and Jeff Argubright, Police Officer.

Background processes for two Police Officers are still in process.

Engineering Technician position was reposted due to lack of candidates.

David Snider, the Economic Development Manager’s last day was August 1st, due to layoff.

Library posted two on-call shelver positions that were filled. Library is currently fully staffed.

Preparation for Open Enrollment has begun.

A 3.7% COLA was given on 7/1/2024 for city staff.

A qualified finance director candidate was received and will be interviewed on August 1st.

Public works posted a replacement position for an Engineering Technician.

Police Chief candidate Patrick Huskey passed all requirement background requirements and a formal start date of August 1st was decided. Interim Chief Yamashita will overlap with Patrick through 9/23/2024 which also be her final day with the City.

Library staff had two resignations for on-call positions and will start a recruitment next month for those positions.

The Finance position will be posted again as a Finance Manager or Finance Director based on experience. Hope to conduct any candidate interviews in July.

Many changes are happening with Paid Leave Oregon beginning July 1st, 2024. Many of the job protect leaves that OFLA (Oregon Family Leave Act) covered will be removed and added into Paid Leave Oregon program. There is numerous administrative changes that happens with this change. The employee handbook has been put on hold until all the new legislation has been finalized and updated documents are available for distribution.

Police continue to recruit for Patrol Officer positions. Two are in the background process. The recruitment will stay open to continue to source and develop a deeper eligibility list to drawn from if the current two in background fall out.

The second round of Police Chief Interviews occurred on June 7th. Three successful candidates were brought forward from the recruitment efforts. An offer was extended and accepted. The background process started.

Library received a grant for their teen intern program and an offer was extended for a limited duration position. Chris Wilhelmi also retired from the City on June 26th and a reception was held at the library community room.

SandyNet hired a telecom utility worker to fill a recent vacancy.

There will be a second recruitment opening up for what we are now titling a Finance Manager vs. a Finance Director as recruitment is not yielding any candidates at the Director level. The intent is to have this position work into the Director position over the course of 18 months.

Library posted, interviewed and hired for their Library Assistant positions opening. The library has made some organizational changes with the retirement of Dianne Downey this month and the upcoming retirement of Chris Wilhelmi, the current Assistant Library Director in June. Dianne worked for the city for 14 years. With these internal changes, some internals were hired into the Library Assistant role from Library Clerk. The library will now focus on back-filling those positions. The other change was the decision to not back fill Chris’ position but instead promote of Elaine Russell from Library Clerk to Circulation Manager.

Officer Bill Wetherbee from the Sandy Police Department resigned and pursuing a position with Oregon Trail School District. Police will begin a recruitment process for that vacancy. In the meantime Officer Olmos will resume his role as an SRO to fill the void left by Officer Wetherbee.

Jacob Williams who was working as a seasonal parks employees was permanently hired on as a Parks Facilities and Maintenance Worker I.

Zander Baker started as a new seasonal workers for PW Streets.

SandyNet posted a position for a vacant telecom utility worker. Interviews take place the end of May.

The Public Works Project Manager position closed this month and interviews will be planned for early January.

Police Chief interview preparations began to set up the processes for early January.

The first recruitment for the Finance Director opening did not produce the quality and quantity of applicants we were hoping for. It was decided to wait until after the holidays and repost the position in mid-January.

The employee Appreciation Holiday Luncheon was well attended and allowed for a good time for staff to see each other outside of work and enjoy sharing a meal together and learning about the past years accomplishments of the City.

The City has teamed up with MissionSquare to be more deliberate in getting information and training out to employees in regards to their 457 Deferred Compensation program through personal video appointments, on-site visits and educational programs .

Public Works will be preparing to recruit for a new Project Manager in December. The Police Chief opening is still in active recruitment with first review this month.

The Finance Director position posted and the will review candidates in December.

The City went through our Open Enrollment this month. A CIS Benefit Specialist was on on site conducting two open enrollment meetings to help staff understand their benefit options and services. It is a goal of HR to focus on ensuring employees are gaining more knowledge. In the months ahead there will be a focus on educating staff on the 457 MissionSquare retirement program offered through the City.

The Police Chief position went live this month. Screening of candidates will happen in early November. Recruitment developed started for the new Finance Director position. GMP was awarded that contract.

A save the date went out for the Holiday staff appreciation lunch on Thursday, December 14th. This will be a time for the City Manager to review department accomplishments, enjoy a meal together and celebrate as a city-wide team.

There have been many staffing additions to the City this month. Christian Normand, Sgt/Patrick Depa, Sr. Planner/Chris Reyles, Code Enforcement Specialist/Allister Bunch, Patrol and Matt Smith, Telecom Utility Worker.

The City Manager interviews and hire went smoothly. Now the process will begin in the recruitment of our next Finance Director.

The Police Chief Recruitment profile was having the final tweaks with the hope to have the posting live in early October.

An in-depth City wide training program is in the beginning stages of development which will range from new hire training, accessing annual and specialty training based on department needs along with overall employee development training. This is part of the overall effort to continue investing in the city’s workforce, retaining staff, and maintaining our low turnover rate. This will also help with employee moral while increasing and developing a well rounded staff to do their jobs safely, efficiently and effectively.

A small number of front facing staff attended an all day Mental Health First Aid training course put on by Officer Sabella developed by the National Council for Behavior Health.

Open Enrollment begins for City staff next month. What is exciting about this enrollment for 2024 is that the City is picking up an additional 5% of the cost. The split will go from 85/15 to 90/10.

There have been many staffing changes this month.

Susie Jenkins, Library Clerk will retire on September 1st from the Library.

Two new Utility Worker I were hired. Kevin Teneyck and Kyle Rohweder.

Interviews and offers were extended and accepted for on-call Library Clerk openings. Alex Steinmetz and Haley Young have joined our staff this month. Interviews were scheduled for two on-call Shelver openings.

Interviews and an offer accepted for the new Code Enforcement Specialist in Development Services. Chris Relyea will start in September. The Sr. Planner was also selected and will be starting in September.

Two Sergeants offers were extended and accepted and start next month. Manny Herrera will be promoted from Patrol and Christian Normand will join us as an external hire.

We have entered into a contract with GMP for the Police Chief Recruitment.

Michael Freeman retired from his volunteer assignment as a reserve officer as of 8/31/2023.