http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/tempe/articles/0112evinsider12Z10.html
Memory loss afflicts town workers Personalized computer settings banned after system overloads
Jan. 12, 2006 12:00 AM
The Southeast Valley Political Insider offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at government and politics in Chandler, Ahwatukee Foothills, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Pinal County.
A fight is brewing within the walls of Gilbert Town Hall.
At issue: personalized screen savers.
In a memo to all 900-plus municipal employees, Town Manager George Pettit said that animation and personalized software for e-mail on Gilbert's computer network is eating up memory and affecting the system's overall performance. Electronic pictures of family members and pets, even the little smiley face emoticon graphics at the end of e-mails, are whittling the system's storage space.
Gilbert's technology staff has sent messages to employees warning against personalizing the equipment. Their requests were met with insults and unkind remarks, prompting Pettit to shoot back with his memo.
"The inappropriate and unacceptable verbal and written messages being conveyed to Technology Services personnel regarding their carrying out their professional responsibilities to the organization are extremely disappointing to me," he wrote.
Golfing rights preserved
Tee time has taken on a new meaning in financially strapped Mesa.
In announcing that city offices, museums and libraries would be closed Monday, Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day, a press release noted that the city-owned Dobson Ranch and Riverview golf courses will be open.
Too young to buy bullets
Tim Dorn, 49, relied on his own desire and grit to land his first job as a police officer in 1976, but admits he needed help with one key element before hitting the streets.
Dorn, recently named Gilbert's acting police chief, was 19 when he began his police career in Gilbert. In those days, you had to be 21 to purchase ammunition. Dorn was no exception.
"I had to get my dad to buy my first box of bullets," Dorn said with a chuckle.
He made the admission during a recent Human Relations Commission meeting, where he also laid out his plans for the 189-officer department for 2006. Dorn began running the department last month when John Brewer retired.
Dorn, also a colonel with an Army National Guard team that served in Iraq from early 2003 to 2004, worked with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for 24 years before returning to Gilbert in 2001.
He pledged to keep communication between the police and commission flowing well, and not to pull any punches.
"I may not always give you the answers you want to hear, but I'll always be truthful," Dorn said.
He's a man named Brady
After twice forgetting new Mesa City Manager Chris Brady's last name last year, it appeared Mayor Keno Hawker was going to get it right in the future.
But last week during Brady's first study session, Hawker referred to him as "Chris Miller" again, probably mixing up his last name with Ron Miller, who was a candidate alongside Brady for the city manager job in November.
"I will promise to practice," Hawker told Brady.