7 Things You Need to Know About Mayor Christenson's First 180 Days

Mayor Gary Christenson was presented with a 100-page audit of city hall and its resident services during his earlier this week, in which a timeline was established for a number of his administration's goals. 

Don't have time to read the report? No big – assuming everything goes according to plan, here's the seven things you need to know about Christenson's plans for his first 180 days in office:

1. You'll be seeing a lot more of the Mayor: Christenson has expressed his desire to leave the confines of his office and work , host regularly scheduled press conferences broadcast on MATV.org and engage in . 

Beyond Christenson himself, the city has started an official Facebook and Twitter page for rapid interaction between residents and government center, which has already advised residents on a number of city issues, ranging from complaints about snow service to power outages.

A monthly e-newsletter and official community calendar is also in the works.

2. The citizen as a “customer”: The transitional audit calls for the mayor to implement a complaint tracking system for city services within his first 90 days of office.

Residents - whether registering their gripe through social media, telephone or email - will soon receive a unique tracking number associated with their file, both for internal reference and to allow members of the public to follow the city's progress on the issue via the internet.

The report also calls for the city to implement a “How's My Driving?” program for municipal employees within Christenson's first 180 days.

3. A less confusing city hall: The lack of direction and assistance near the entrance of Government Center was considered a “universal complaint” in a survey of residents included with the audit.

In response, the team recommended a volunteer greeter position to assist visitors, as well as installing new directional kiosks on the upper floors.

4. New resources for local businesses: The report recommends “designating a business liaison to assist new businesses with their start up, and serve as an ombudsman for businesses that have expansion issues.”

The liaison would be responsible for maintaing programs that support business development and revitalization, as well as checking up on the progress of new businesses “before they get in trouble.”

The recommendation came after a survey of local business owners found that only 25 per cent thought the city “had an active program to encourage and support existing businesses,” with respondents most frequently volunteering the words “indifferent” and “poor” when asked to describe how the city treats its businesses. 

5. New changes for employees: The audit recommends the establishment of a dress code within the first 30 days of the Christenson administration, as well as a ban on smoking within 50 feet of the building. Employees will also receive a newly revised employee handbook, and may see their weekly pay schedule changed to semi-monthly or bi-weekly payments as a cost- and time-saving effort.

Both regular employees and department heads will be subject to an annual review process within the first 180 days of Christenson's tenure.

6. Improved payment systems: The report calls for limiting “to the maximum extent” any payments residents make to the city outside of the treasurer's office. In particular, the team wanted to see parking and traffic ticket payments made at the office, with all available forms of payment – cash, credit, debit, check – available to residents.

7. Public recycling: The report calls for Christenson to implement recycling receptacles in parks and other public places within his first 180 days in office.