Rob- Maryse Carmichael is the city manager with the City of Moose Jaw on Take 5 with Carnie and Carmichael.
One more thing I think we should touch on, that is a City of Moose Jaw employee town hall that was recently held. Tell us about that, (you) held it at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. How was the attendance and what were the topics that we dealt with?
Maryse- Yes. So, this was the first of what I hope to be a biannual employee meeting. We have over 350 employees at the city. They are the people that work with all our residents, that provide the services on a day-to-day basis and for me it’s my greatest resource here in town.
So, we had about a one-hour meeting with them where we presented some updates on the projects that we have in the city. We touched on, of course, the human resource side of the work that they do, the communication side. So, it was meant to be for people to be there in person at the Event Centre. It was also virtual, and it was also recorded.
Therefore—because we all know that city crews are working at all hours of the day— some were able to make it. We were lucky we had a rainy day, so there was no lawn mowing yesterday morning. About 100 of them were there in person, some of them were watching online, and then some will be able to watch it in the future.
I think it’s important for a leadership team, for myself, to be there and be with the employees and pass on some of the information that we have at the city.
Rob- And good communication it was?
Maryse- It was great communication. We wanted (it) to be a two-way street. We want the employees to tell us what they’re looking for and being really engaged and passionate about their work.
Rob- Very good, so it went over well?
Maryse- It went very well.
Rob- Anything else we’d like to add today?
Maryse- Well, I’d like to invite all the residents, I think for me this is something I want to hear about (from) all the residents. About what you think of what we do in the city, what you think you would like to see. Sometimes, I have to say, we hear more of the negative than the positive. If you’re happy with something that’s ongoing in town, please let us know.
We want to continue (that work) because otherwise (on) some projects we only hear one side of the story. We want to hear all the sides, and we want to hear from all the residents.
Rob- What's the best way to communicate with you if I’m Joe Citizen and I have something on my mind, good or bad?
Maryse- The best thing is, if it’s a request for service, it’s our app and putting a “Report an Issue”. If you want to discuss with someone, all their phone numbers (and) email addresses are on the website. You can easily go to moosejaw.ca, get all the information on the specific department, or if you want to talk to me, you can do that.
Rob- Moosejaw.ca is that website where you can get all the information and get in touch with City Hall, including city manager Maryse Carmichael. Thanks again for being here, and we’ll talk to you next month.
Maryse- Thank you.