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WEEKLY BRIEFS City of Arvada internal news April 24, 2023 Mayor’s State of the City speech This past Friday, Mayor Marc Williams gave his final State of the City address. Mayor Williams’s address was titled “Honoring the Past, Imagining the Future.” The address was a look back at progress around the city over the past 24 years as well as a review of what was accomplished and the challenges we faced in 2022. You are invited to view the recording of Mayor Williams’s address on the City’s YouTube channel. Election behavior guidance City of Arvada employees have certain responsibilities during elections. It is important to understand the laws that govern employee participation in elections and to uphold the utmost ethical standards. There are two laws that regulate employee participation and the expenditure of public funds during an election: the City’s Personnel Rules and the Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act. ● Section 70-143 of the City’s Personnel Rules contains a list of rules, regulations and policies which if violated, may warrant disciplinary action. Paragraph (23) of that section lists the following as a violation: “Engaging in federal, state and county, or local political campaigns during an employee's working hours.” Therefore, employees are forbidden from actively participating in a political campaign during business hours. ● The Colorado Fair Campaign Practices Act, CRS 1-45-117 prohibits the expenditure of public funds to support any candidate or ballot issue. Employees may not utilize any time during work hours or expend any public funds of any nature to support a campaign of any kind. We have created a resource, including frequently asked questions, on Inside Arvada. If you have any questions not covered on Inside Arvada, please contact your immediate supervisor or your department head. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- We invite you to attend the Fallen Officer Memorial Service on May 9 Please direct any questions about the event to Master Police Officer Dave Snelling at [EMAIL REDACTED]. Lake Arbor restoration The work at Lake Arbor is in full swing. Public Works Drainage and Floodplain Engineer, Sam Rogers is managing the project. Watch the new video from our Media Services team where we catch up with Sam and hear about what is going on at Lake Arbor. The primary goal is to improve public safety by stabilizing the banks. Through sediment removal west of the pedestrian bridges, unpleasant odors near the lake's western side will be reduced. Learn more about the project on the City’s website. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- ArvadaCo.gov update: Have you made your list of assets with the Arvada.org URL yet? Just a friendly reminder that our new website domain will be ArvadaCo.gov beginning June 1, and we need your help identifying assets that have the arvada.org URL on them:. This might include business cards, signage, letterhead, swag, etc. When you come across such assets, please write them down and send them to your communication contact listed below. Thank you! ● Public Safety: Dave Snelling, [EMAIL REDACTED] and Chase Amos, [EMAIL REDACTED]. ● Infrastructure: Katie Patterson, [EMAIL REDACTED] ● Clerk's Office: Kevin Luy, [EMAIL REDACTED] ● CED/AEDA: Liz Johnson, [EMAIL REDACTED] ● VCN: Sean Star, [EMAIL REDACTED] ● OSE: Cindy Javelet, [EMAIL REDACTED] Accessibility Tip of the Week: Accessible Presentations Remote and hybrid work schedules have made virtual meetings a regular part of the workweek for many of our employees and third party vendors, and there is no way of knowing the differing ability levels of our audience members on the other side of the screen. This means it is important to keep accessibility in mind when hosting or creating a presentation for a virtual meeting Here are a few tips that will help make your presentations more accessible: ● Alt Text: All images, graphics, tables, etc. have alternative-text or alt-text for screen readers. ● Headings are used to organize content and create logical reading order. ● Color: Don't use it to convey meaning. ● Hyperlinks: Don't use the URL alone or the phrase “click here.” Use a short descriptive phrase such as: "Notes from Meeting.” For those of you who wish to take a deeper dive into accessibility practices and virtual meetings, review the State of Colorado's Office of Information Technology's Accessible Meetings Checklist. Organizational Service Effectiveness Work System Here’s how to view internal job postings All internal job opportunities are posted on our internal job link and on Inside Arvada under the “Employee Resources” tab. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Arvada University Update Register in advance on the Arvada University Learning Calendar. Contact Noelle Oberg ([EMAIL REDACTED]) with questions. Session/topic Date Time and/or resource link Type of Training DEI: Surfacing and Addressing Bias in the Workplace May 10 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Register here In-person 7 Habits of Highly Effective People May 22 from 8:30 am to 4:30 p.m. Register here In-person 7 Habits of Highly Effective People June 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Register here In-person DEI 2nd Annual Auraria Powwow The Auraria Native and Indigenous Student Association will be hosting their 2nd Annual Powwow immediately after the native students’ graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 6 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the PE Event Center at 1255 10th St., Denver CO 80204. There will be a Grand Entry with the dancer and powwow committee entrance at 12 p.m. Everyone in the community is welcome and encouraged to attend! Free parking is available in any lot on campus except the 7th St. garage. View this poster for additional event details. To learn more information or to ask a question, please reach out to the committee at [EMAIL REDACTED] or to Arvada PD employee Stacey Ramon at [EMAIL REDACTED]. Employee Committee Corner Remember to get ready for our upcoming photography contest! Dust off those lenses and get ready to capture the natural beauty of our great city! The Employee Committee is hosting a photo contest for all City of Arvada employees starting in May. To enter, you must be a current City of Arvada employee (full-time, part-time, or temporary). All photos must have been taken in Arvada within the last three years, and there is a limit Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- of three entries per employee. The Committee will vote on the best photos and the top photos will then be displayed prominently at City Hall and could be used for various City publications. There will also be gift cards awarded to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners. Stay tuned to the Weekly Briefs for the sign up link, contest dates and more details in the near future! About the Employee Committee Employee Committee representatives meet in order to plan and coordinate events as well as collect departmental updates to bring back to their respective teams. Check out the links below to see who your representative is, view the upcoming list of potential City events and browse Employee Committee meeting minutes: ● Find My Rep! ● 2023 Events Schedule* *Please note: this is a working document and all events are subject to change. ● Meeting Minutes Please contact your Employee Committee at [EMAIL REDACTED] if you have questions. Vibrant Communities and Neighborhoods It was a dazzling Earth Day at the Majestic View Nature Center Thank you to all who braved the cold temps to participate on Saturday! Despite the frosty weather, we still enjoyed a winter wonderland with environmentally conscious visitors, volunteers, and vendors. Although some activities were adapted or rescheduled due to the weather we still had games, free plants and seeds, and visitors helped give feedback for future park amenities like our new classroom coming late 2023/2024. Inside folks made their own hand-printed reusable bags, designed their own garden, and saw the many artistic Earth Day poster contest submissions - we received 55 posters this year from Arvada students! Posters will be on display at the Nature Center through the end of the month. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Community and Economic Development Work System AURA’s Communications Coordinator wins photography contest Giles Clasen, The Arvada Urban Renewal Authority’s (AURA) communications coordinator, won first place in the Feature Photography Top of The Rockies Awards on April 22. Clasen’s submission titled "RV Living on the Road to Housing," explores the safety and complications of campers and RVs as housing options for individuals experiencing homelessness. Top of the Rockies is a competition hosted by the Colorado Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The contest was open to news organizations operating in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming and it attracted nearly 2,000 submissions from more than 100 news outlets and freelancers. Read Giles's full article in the Denver Voice. Infrastructure Arvada hosts Professional Land Surveyors of Colorado (PLSC) Central Chapter On April 20 the City proudly hosted the first PLSC board meeting with land surveyors from around the Denver metro area. The meeting was well attended and a huge success. City team members included Arvada’s Public Works Director Jacqueline Rhoades, City Engineer Jenny Chief Surveyor Dan Smith, as well as members of the city’s survey, CAD and development review teams, including Mary Kay, Howard Miller, Ryan Norton, Steve Suniga, and Abi Ogg. The City team presented information about how the City is modernizing practices that tie all land surveys together throughout the nation, making Arvada’s industry standards current. Mobility Planning and Innovation team helps with bus stop bench installation Several years ago, the Public Works team became aware of at least one person with a physical disability using this bus stop on Wadsworth just south of W. 72nd Avenue each day. Following some updates to the corridor with CDOT, the team was unsure they could fit a bench on the sidewalk and still meet ADA requirements. This meant that people would have to stand or sit on the ground to wait for the bus. John Firouzi and the Mobility Planning and Innovation team worked with RTD to figure out a way to make a bench possible at this stop. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Thanks to this persistent work by our City team, the bench you see here was installed, impacting the life of one known user who is disabled and all users for years to come. What a great example of planning for inclusion of one to benefit everyone. Thank you to John and team for their hard work! Employee Updates Newly hired Jared Blair, Utility System Technician-Associate Level, effective 4/8/2023 Majid Ma Aslami, Civil Engineer I, effective 4/10/2023 Kelli Bradley, Civil Engineer III, effective 4/17/2023 Jonathan Galan, Municipal Inspector I, effective 4/17/2023 Patrick Macklin, Municipal Inspector I, effective 4/17/2023 Resignations Danilo Ottoborgo, Police Officer, effective 4/11/2023 Judson Smith, Learning Management System Administrator, effective 4/14/2023 Email your news to