Wake Staff Shares, Learns During Special Session of Meet the Managers
Wake County Manager David Cooke and Deputy County Managers Joe Durham and Johnna Rogers held the first in a series of special sessions of Meet the Managers: Let's Talk P-cards, Budget and Travel, on Friday, August 29, 2008, in the Wake County Office Building.
Cooke started the meeting off by telling 30 employees in attendance that, “What you read in the paper was accurate,” referencing a series of stories published in The News and Observer about employee spending. He went on to tell the crowd that, “all of us are earning back the trust that just a few destroyed.”
In June, The News and Observer reported that a Wake County employee was let go for inappropriately spending thousands of public dollars. As a result of the questionable transactions, the County launched an internal audit of all purchasing cards. The findings are due to the Board of Commissioners this month.
He stressed that “every purchase we make must have a public purpose.” Cooke told employees that if they are not sure if something should be paid for with tax payer dollars, then they should ask.
The managers spoke to employees candidly on topics ranging from spending, including food purchases and travel, to a four-day work week and overtime pay.
Additional Meet the Managers: Let's Talk P-cards, Budget and Travel are planned. A few of the dates are:
Sept. 25 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Swinburne Building
Sept. 30 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Sunnybrook Building
Oct. 11 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Northern Regional Ctr
Oct. 17 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Public Safety Ctr
Nov. 7 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. Library Admin
Registration information will be emailed from Human Resources. For more information, contact Caroline Hipple.
As part of Wake County government’s commitment to information security, new rules for passwords will take effect on September 3, 2008. The changes will affect all employees’ ability to access their computers, Lotus Notes email and Blackberry devices.
New passwords must be at least eight characters long and include a mix of upper and lower case letters. The letters chosen may not spell a name or word found in a dictionary. Of the eight characters, one must be a numeral and one must be a special character. An example of a password that meets these requirements would be: Mo$4mee!
Employees will be prompted automatically to change their password every 180 days. Users must create a new password and may not re-use any of the four previously used passwords.
The complete policy is available on the P drive at:
P:\IS Policies\User Level Password Policy.doc
For further information, contact Lib Wanner, Chief Information Officer at 856-5814 or lwanner@co.wake.nc.us.
Wake County Human Resources trainings and new employee enrollment sessions are moving. Starting this week, employee education programs will be held in the General Services Center Training Room, 401 Capital Boulevard, instead of the Personnel Training Center on the second floor of the Wake County Office Building.
All workshop announcements contain session location. Be sure to check this information carefully and allow adequate travel time to your next workshop.
The Human Resources training move is part of a series of staff relocations in preparation for the construction of the new justice center.
Sharpen your pencil and take a break from work – with a pop quiz. Don’t worry, this exercise will not impact your PDMS score. Here are the questions.
Do you need to register to vote? (Y – N)
Have you moved within Wake County? (Y – N)
Are you planning to vote at an Early Voting site? (Y – N)
Will you be requesting an absentee by mail ballot? (Y – N)
Do you know the location of your assigned polling place? (Y – N)
If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, log on to www.wakegov.com/elections. The Wake County Board of Elections web site contains information and forms pertaining to and including:
How to Register to Vote,
Absentee Ballot by Mail,
Early Voting Sites and Hours.
Voters who need more information regarding polling places on Election Day, or have not received a registration card should call 856-6240 or email voter@wake.nc.us. Staff members are prepared to answer all questions.
Remember the deadline to register for the November 4, 2008 election is Friday, October 10, 2008.
The initial class of 36 Middle Class Express participants has been oriented to the process. Matched with trained life coaches, participants will meet monthly for motivational team meetings at Marbles Kids Museum. During the orientation on Thursday, August 7, 2008, children of the participants were able to explore the museum and teens were invited to participate in 4-H and leadership development programming on an ongoing basis. Program administrators are processing applications daily and planning another orientation for new participants in October and December 2008.
The next meeting for employees interested in becoming coaches is October 14, 2008, at 3 p.m. in room 5040 of the Swinburne Building.
Human Services Board member Paul Norman traveled with Human Services Director Ramon Rojano and Human Capital Campaign Coordinator Katherine Williams to Greensboro on August 20, 2008, to present the Middle Class Express program to the N.C. Association of Chambers of Commerce.
For more information, contact Katherine Williams, 250-1109.
A vanpool is forming for the Zebulon, Wendell, Knightdale area. The work hours of the members of the vans and are 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday.
The van will pick up riders in the morning and drop them off in the afternoon at one of the following locations:
Food Lion
114 Wakelon St.
Zebulon
IGA Food Liner
2971 Wendell Blvd.
Wendell
Wal Mart
7106 Knightdale Blvd.
Knightdale
Van riders will be dropped off and picked up from their job location. The approximate cost for each van rider is $90 per month minus the Wake County employee subsidy of $30 per month.
Employees are invited to support some of the County’s most popular programs during the grand opening of the new Raleigh Convention Center.
This two-day event will be on Friday, September 5, and Saturday, September 6, 2008. Festivities begin at 11 a.m. and conclude at 10 p.m. both days. A Kids’ Zone and Carnival will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Be sure to come out, be entertained, learn more about your Wake County government services and support your fellow co-workers.
Scheduled booths include Community Services, EMS, Human Services, Making Magic, Sheriff’s Office, Workforce Development and Emergency Management.
A picture is still worth a thousand words, even in the age of digital photography. Share the moments when your county was at its finest through the 2008 Counties in Pictures photo contest sponsored by the National Association of Counties’ (NACos) County News.
Winners will be featured in the County News and appear in a 2009 Calendar that will be available online for purchase. NACo members will also be able to vote for their favorites.
The deadline for entry is September 30, 2008. A one-page flyer with more details can be downloaded from NACo's Web site by going to www.naco.org/photo.
Wake County will be holding its second annual Adoption Day Celebration this November. This event will coincide with National Adoption Month celebrations all across the country and will be open to those families who have completed adoption proceedings within the past year. Even though formal adoption procedures have already been completed and this event is of a strictly ceremonial nature, it promises to be a joy-filled time for children, parents, and friends of foster and adoptive families.
Wake to Commemorate Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. In commemoration, Wake County will hold a number of events to promote community discussion about substance abuse, treatment and recovery. The theme for this year’s events is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Real People, Real Recovery,” focusing on the value of treatment for individuals, their families and the community.
The month of festivities began with a kickoff event on September 2, 2008, at the Wake County Commons Building. Other events during the month of September will include:
Sept. 12 Wake Medical Substance Abuse Provider Fair
Sept. 18 Bridging the Gaps – Addition, Recovery and Domestic Violence
Sept. 22 Substance Abuse and Its Effect on Children
Cameron Village library helped teenagers say good-bye to summer. The library, in conjunction with several other braches, will host an end of the summer reading program celebration on Saturday, August 16, 2008.
Teens from across Wake County enjoyed games, opportunities to create or work on an altered book and door prizes. Refreshments were provided.
The updated Human Resources Administration Manual is now online at www.wakeemployees.com! Contents are indexed and searchable, and you may easily print individual items or the entire document, which is in PDF format.
The manual can also be accessed through Lotus Notes by clicking on "Personnel Administration Manual."
If you have questions about any Human Resources policy, please contact Laurie Turner or Jenny Rice in Human Resources, 856-6090.
Insights is always looking for story ideas. Submit your suggestions to Insights@co.wake.nc.us or call 856-7532. The next issue of Insights will come out on September 16, 2008. Submissions are due by noon on Thursday, September 11, 2008.
print version Volume 11 | Issue 18 | September 2, 2008
Wake County Manager David Cooke and Deputy County Managers Joe Durham and Johnna Rogers held the first in a series of special sessions of Meet the Managers: Let's Talk P-cards, Budget and Travel, on Friday, August 29, 2008, in the Wake County Office Building.
The initial class of 36 Middle Class Express participants has been oriented to the process. Matched with trained life coaches, participants will meet monthly for motivational team meetings at Marbles Kids Museum. During the orientation on Thursday, August 7, 2008, children of the participants were able to explore the museum and teens were invited to participate in 4-H and leadership development programming on an ongoing basis. Program administrators are processing applications daily and planning another orientation for new participants in October and December 2008. 
Human Services Board member Paul Norman traveled with Human Services Director Ramon Rojano and Human Capital Campaign Coordinator Katherine Williams to Greensboro on August 20, 2008, to present the Middle Class Express program to the N.C. Association of Chambers of Commerce.