July 2, 2008

Ward cracking down on city driving

Copy of an email that Mayor Art Ward sent to department heads today:

Effective immediately, I am requesting that all departments keep records of Fuel Usage for each month, individually and fleet wise, in order to adequately determine that we are successfully implementing usage policies which reflect energy conservation.
I would request that these figures be submitted to this office no later than the 10th of the month. In the event that one has questions regarding this request, feel free to contact this office.
Thank you, Mayor Ward

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG This guy needs to learn how to write in simple terms. Not everything needs to be over written.

However it is a good idea.

Anonymous said...

Does he cc' the newspaper every times he writes an e-mail?

Anonymous said...

July 2, 2008 11:06 PM:

According to a source of mine, yes. And this has been going on for years.

By the way Steve, working out of your home is nice once in a while huh?

Anonymous said...

July 2, 2008 10:24 PM:

Absolutely...and well stated. It's bizarre of him actually. I believe he's trying to over-compensate for feelings of inadequacy.

Steve Collins said...

Does he CC the newspaper? Rarely. But sometimes other people forward emails to me. :)

Anonymous said...

What, no picture with this release?

Anonymous said...

Ward, a Micro-Manage.

Anonymous said...

Is Artie now an expert on vehicle usage?

Can't anyone else do the analysis?


Guess Artie is getting bored with the job.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear that the city staff is so busy that they cannot take on the task of vehicle analysis.
Our mayor is to be commended for taking the time out of his busy schedule and taking on such an important task.

What next: keeping track of toilet tissue usage?

Anonymous said...

Who is writing his material, Ken Johnson?

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Ward one of those that complained when Stortz stopped the practise of some employees taking city cars home?

A little different now, isn't Artie?

Anonymous said...

~ How incredibly petty can you people be? The mayor is working to save us some money and all you can do is complain about his vocabulary? Whether or not he cc's the paper (btw ~ time to get a new "source" sweetie), whether or not he's "over-compensating for his feelings of inadequacy"...Give me a break!

~ As far as the "keeping track of the toilet tissue usage" issue goes, I can totally understand your concern ~ what with all the crap coming out of you, you must use tons of it! LOL!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why this wasn't happening all along????
I also don't understand why, after the budget was approved instead of before, he sent a memo asking employees to submit suggestions on improvements and ways to save money. Why wasn't that going on all along?
Clearly he is in over his head and this is just another example of why we need a professional business manager (COO, Manager - whatever you want to call it). We need someone with experience who can be proactive instead of reactive. Say what you want about Stortz but at least he was proactive with the budget.

Anonymous said...

Are the department heads not competent enough to do this? If they are not then they shouldn't be in the position. Artie either has too much time on his hands or he doesn't trust the department managers to manage their budgets.
Which is it? And, what action will be taken to bring the department heads to a level of competency where they can manage budgets and pro-actively look for ways to cut expenses?

Anonymous said...

"A little different now, isn't Artie?"

Uh...ya it's a little different now ~ can you say RECESSION?

Anonymous said...

10:17 ~ Pretty obvious that you don't understand a LOT of things.

Anonymous said...

as much as i don't always agree with the mayor, i must congratulate him on this one. someone needs to keep tabs on the usage of city vehicles, and mr. ward is taking the right steps.

now, if he would only cut some of the fat from the DPW, we'd be getting somewhere.

-billy from bristol

Anonymous said...

This "billy from bristol" is an imposter. Because the REAL billy from bristol would never support cracking down on public works abuses or anything like greater oversight for city workers.

Anonymous said...

Is it true that Ward reinstated use of city vehicles to some employees, justlike he reinstated the use of the city computers for personal use on city time?

Anonymous said...

Of course it's true.

It's all about keeping the City Hall workers happy.

Anonymous said...

And yet, he claims he wants to cut costs and save money.

How much of that could have gone to a good cause.

Anonymous said...

...8:41pm - get a grip on something other than yourself.

Anonymous said...

there are much larger issues than these small feel good ones.

Anonymous said...

Pretty easy from the cheap seats, eh 9:34?

Anonymous said...

When Ward was in the cheap seats, he certainly fired his shots on a regular basis.

Anonymous said...

? - asking to have monthly reports for comparison purposes seems to be a pretty logical action if one is serious about monitoring usage and hoping to use it more efficiently - another example of naysayers failing to be able to generate anything positive -
I know that it will be difficult but try to have a nice 4th of July - I promise that it won't hurt but then again, being you, it might hurt just a teeny-weeny bit.

Anonymous said...

What good is keeping track of taking cars home?

It is already done for income tax purposes.

Why let them take them home at all, except the Police and Fire Chief?

Anonymous said...

Because they are his friends and supporters!

And because they do him favors in return.

Anonymous said...

Sure they do, 9:33 ~ They'll put out a fire at his house or respond to an emergency for him (just like they do for the rest of the citizens of Bristol)... get over it already!

Anonymous said...

12:37

It wasn't the Chiefs I was referring to, but those employees who respond to the mayors beck and call to do an immediate favor to make him look good at the cost of efficient and effective operation of the city.

I know, I am living it!

Anonymous said...

4:00pm - so we can assume that you are one of those two-faced, self-promoting whimps who will do anything, at least on the surface, which promotes your dead butt?
Welcome to the city council.

Anonymous said...

8:23

Sounds like you are describing the Mayor!

And I agree.

Anonymous said...

10:46 ~

Sounds like you're one of those two-faced, self-promoting wimps that 8:23 was talking about...and I agree with 8:23 wholeheartedly!

Anonymous said...

Will we get a report tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

Saw a Park Department truck riding around downtown this evening (WED).

Wonder how this will show up on the mayors report.

Anonymous said...

Other than the Police and Fire Chiefs, how many city employees get to take their vehicles home?

Anonymous said...

Walt from public works does and he lives in Milford!

Anonymous said...

Ward has no clue what he is doing and its starting to show.

Anonymous said...

Walt does not take his vehicle home!

Anonymous said...

Any report from the mayors office yet?

Anonymous said...

Has the city given all city employees cell phones?

Continually I see city vehicles being driven by people on their cell phones.

Illegal, yes.

Work related??

Who is minding the store?