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880 8 4 Interdepartmental Cooperation: In general this is pretty good however...as a five year City employee I've learned who the people are to go to for help and assistance and who the people are to avoid. There are dead spots in the organization where there is simply NOT a helpful, service oriented attitude or spirit of cooperation at the other end of the phone. If I behaved the way some departmental /division staff respond to requests for assistance I would expect to have my supervisor make it a performance issue. Executive Mangers: _ It seems as if the Executive Managers are a management team in search of a mission statement. They appear to be a well meaning, hard working, dedicated group. I suppose that their job is to look out for their own department but I don't have the feeling that they thin about (or even particularly care about) the entire organization. Additionally while the relationship between staff and council has always been a mixed one I think that the Execs and the City Manager need to develop some backbone when it comes to what is acceptable behavior by Councilors toward staff. As an AFSCME employee if I was treated the way that some exempt staff are treated by council I'd grieve it in a heart beat. This is not a comment on disagreements about policy or procedure but about common courtesy and treating a fellow human being with respect. If the Managers want us as employees to be held to a higher standard in our interpersonal relationships (inside and outside the organization) they need to start at the top. As leaders they need to stand up for staff who are put into much too awkward and vulnerable a position to do it themselves. The Execs need to lead by example. The City Diversity Effort: Race is important. But it IS NOT the only facet of diversity. Until this organization takes seriously issues such as class, sexism, sexual orientation, and diversity of thought and opinion we will not fundamentally change the organizational culture. Class - we are a hierarchical organization and yet the divisions between employees who have traditionally "working class" jobs and "middle class" jobs; between "college educated" and "uneducated" employees is vast. The way these employees are viewed, treated and valued within the organization is a mirror of the class divisions within our society, whose existence we deny. Sexism - we have yet to have an honest discussion about sexism or gender discrimination within the organization. We are comfortable talking about "women in non - traditional roles" but we do not discuss the salary schedules of the jobs which have been traditionally held by women and undervalued by society. It seems as if the Administrative Aide classification and the Office Supervisor Classification have been set aside for women. Why is there only 1 Admin Aide IV in the entire organization who is not a confidential exempt? Although there are a number of women Management Analysts how many of them have promoted up through the ranks (for additional information see my comments on "class" above)? Sit in on many management team meetings with the Divisions and watch the female Office Supervisors have to fight to be taken as seriously as their male section manager counterparts. Sexual Orientation - We have become more comfortable (not comfortable, but more comfortable) with issues of orientation in the organization - as long as they involve lesbians. Look at how many women are "out" as lesbian in the organization and compare that to the number of men who are "out" as gay. Why do you think that is? You can not kid yourself and say there is nothing going on. For whatever reason the lesbians who are out in the organization feel safer being out than the gay men do. Diversity of thought and opinion - We talk a good game but there is a fairly narrow area that is considered to be "appropriate ". Just because we work for the City doesn't mean we should have to stop thinking or trying to change the world. There is the "party line" which is ok to tout and discuss at length and there are "non - conforming" opinions which are given pretty short shrift. There doesn't seem to be a real desire to hear views which are different, challenging, or even radical. We never talk anymore... 21 8 4 The City of Eugene could do more for the public by letting the public know about the changes that may come up. Keeping Eugene clean and green and feel safe. We are doing a great job, but how can we do better.