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Feb 27, 2023·edited Feb 27, 2023

It's a personal gripe for me. I believe the days of long term, committed employees is long gone by. That was a different generation. We were committed not because of the standards that were mentioned, or that there was any lack of knowledge for doing the job, but because we were usually long term RESIDENTS who knew the value of serving our community. Although if depth of knowledge has been OVERLOOKED in recent years, the City should: hire qualified people, and then invest in its employees by allowing them to add to their credentials through an educational assistance program. I left the Citys employment 30 years ago as part of a large layoff for lack of funding, and over the years a whole lot of long timers have left with their retirements intact; and they seem to have largely been replaced by what is considered the "mobile" generation. Remember? That was explained to us all as the reason why wages didn't need to have benefits attached. For some reason this MOBILE generation just doesn't care about retirement or healthcare. Or at least that was the line we were fed at the time (via different corporate responses to employees fleeing jobs). Now THIS report worries me that the issue is to raise wages instead of actually find qualified employees. ~But I would MAKE CERTAIN employees LIVE in this community.~ The price of gasoline alone is a good reason to want to KEEP your great job at the City. And in interview, they should seem rooted enough to stay. Pay a fair wage with decent benefits and the rest is gravy. And with Covid, more walls and doors and less direct access to seeing employees actually at their desks, like so many government offices it seems like they now hide their employees behind walls which doesn't add to the incentive to remain busy, so I don't like to be talking wage increases without public scrutiny of the desk itself. ~~~I like the list of goals and I would hope that list is part of an employees contract for work. Dedication needs to come at the promise to provide services along those areas that have been identified as critical to communities in Martinez. We need to stop thinking that they are going to respect the job, if they don't respect its community, and just come here for a paycheck. (The results of that is seen with high turnover in management for devades now.) Good chance at providing a long term job is-- providing fair treatment, fair pay, fair benefits that raise your whole family up, and a chosen commitment to the community you serve. (And accountability for management!) Going High.

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