Letter to the Editor

Your View 9/16: Internship appreciated

Monday, September 16, 2002

I want to thank all of the employees of the City of Sikeston. First, I'd like to thank them for the opportunity I was given to perform an internship with the City this summer. The entire staff went out of their way to assist me in meeting my objectives and to make me feel welcome.

Second, and more importantly, I'd like to thank all of the employees for the great work that they do on a daily basis for the entire city. As a graduate student studying public administration, I had a great deal of interest and respect for the work done on the municipal level. This interest and respect grew over the summer.

A lot has been said, at least in the past, that the City Council wasn't representing the entire city, only a small portion of it. This is absolutely not the case. The Council does a wonderful job of representing all citizens from all sections of the city. The time and effort the Council dedicates to their duties should be commended. I was proud to be of assistance to the Council during my internship.

I also want to thank the Administrative Services staff under the direction of Carroll Couch, the Economic Development staff under the direction of Bill Green, the Governmental Services under the direction of Linda Lowes and the Information Technology staff of Kris Greene and Dave Warren for the work that they do on a daily basis. I particularly want to thank Mrs. Lowes and Mr. Warren for their assistance during my internship.

There are two specific departments that I was particularly impressed with during my internship. Part of the reason I was impressed was because, unfortunately and sometimes unfairly, these are the two departments that are most criticized by citizens.

The Department of Public Safety deserves more credit and especially more support for the work that they do. Under Chief Drew Juden, DPS is fully staffed for the first time in a long time, adding to the safety the department provides to the city. I believe a lot of credit should go to Chief Juden in how he runs his department and manages his staff. By just tagging along with Chief Juden for a short period of time during my internship opened my eyes to the great things he and the rest of the staff are doing.

Last year at this time, there was a groundswell of support for police and fire departments all across the country. Unfortunately, some of this support has dwindled. Hopefully we can keep in mind that these men and women put their lives on the line quite often to make Sikeston a better place to live, visit, work and raise a family.

The Department of Public Works definitely deserves more credit for the work that they do. I was amazed at the extent to which public works serves the city. My unfamiliarity with the department's activities was changed quickly when Tom Bridger gave me a very up-close view at the services they provide, from the street division to code enforcement to animal control. I also want to thank the parks department and its director Jiggs Moore. Being around during the summer, I witnessed how hard Mr. Moore works at putting together the Sikeston Corporate Games and how well he pulls it off.

Mr. Bridger should be very proud of the work he and his entire staff does. I know they receive criticism for street problems and received a few complaints earlier this summer with some flooding problems. However, this department works extremely hard. I witnessed how the staff worked 24 hours per day doing everything possible to alleviate the flooding problems as best they could this summer. The street division does all they can with the budget they're allotted. It's impossible to fix all the problems at once when there is a limited amount of funds to fix the problems. These men do a very good job in often difficult conditions.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank City Manager Doug Friend for accommodating me and setting up my internship. I truly valued the opportunity Mr. Friend afforded me this summer. I also want to thank Mr. Friend for the work that he does. His managerial and people skills make him the perfect fit for the city manager position. I believe I learned a lot from him in a short amount of time.

Thank you to all.

Sikeston proud,

Richard McGill