City Manager Rad Bartlam's
Weekly Update
Thursday, Feb, 25, 2013

Employee of the Quarter: Linda Tremble, administrative secretary in the Electric Utility and a City employee for 18years, was named Employee of the Quarter for the first calendar quarter of 2013. Linda was nominated by her peers for her contributions assisting the Electric Utility Director and others in her daily activities, and her numerous years on the Lodi City Employees Association board helping to organize events on behalf of her fellow employees in her spare time.  

Hutchins Pool: The City Council will be asked on May 1 to reject the single bid we opened on Wednesday for the pool repair project because it did not conform to our bidding requirements. In addition, it was significantly higher than anticipated. The Council will be asked to rebid the pool refinishing portion only, and we will take another approach to installing an automated chlorine disinfection system. We are hopeful this will lead to more competitive bidding. We are tentatively scheduling the award of bid at a special meeting May 21 before or after the Shirtsleeve presentation on the FY 2013/14 budget.

Job applicants: As an indication of economic times, we received more than 600 applications for an administrative clerk position in Public Works, and more than 100 applications for assistant engineer, although many of those did not have the basic qualifications needed to be considered. We have identified the new hires, who will be starting shortly.

Retirements: Police Lt. Steve Carillo and Sgt. Val Chaban are retiring next week after many years of service to the Lodi community. We will have a send-off celebration for them at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Police Department Community Room.

Promotion: The Fire Department’s David Mettler has been promoted to captain.

Other hires: The Electric Utility has hired a new lineman from Colorado and an electrical technican from Washington, ending what amounted to a four-year recruitment for the latter position.

City Hall carpet: Installation of the balance of new carpet at City Hall begins in May. Work will occur on weekends to avoid disrupting city business. The first area is the basement. The new carpet will match carpeting previously installed on the stairway and the second-floor lobby.

Permit revenue up: The number and value of building permits continues to exceed last year’s figures. Through March, the Community Development Department has collected $1.12 million in fees in the fiscal year, compared to $743,608 through the first nine months last fiscal year.

Softball tournament: We have 22 teams playing in a softball tournament this weekend at Chapman Field and the softball complex. The games being played today and Friday are for teams whose players are ages 70 and up, with the youngsters – 55 and over – playing this weekend. Which brings us to our wellness tip of the week:
Regular physical activity can produce long term health benefits. People of all ages, shapes, sizes, and abilities can benefit from being physically active. The more physical activity you do, the greater the health benefits. Being physically active can help you:

• Increase your chances of living longer
• Feel better about yourself
• Decrease your chances of becoming depressed
• Sleep well at night
• Move around more easily
• Have stronger muscles and bones
• Stay at or get to a healthy weight
• Be with friends or meet new people
• Enjoy yourself and have fun

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