To the editor:

Monday night at the Florala City Council meeting, the mayor stated that the City Clerk and other office personnel needed to be cross trained. He even hinted that this was really brought to light recently when an unexpected illness caused an office employee to be absent for an extended period. Apparently, he never realized that when this happened, for two weeks the City Clerk and I were obviously crossed trained enough to get the bills out timely, close out and balance the month, take payments, open and close accounts, etc. We were even “cross trained enough,” that we were able to train the new employee hired. All the while, we managed to do our jobs.

I could not help but wonder, if an AP high school math teacher was out, was a first grade teacher

crossed trained to fill that position. Maybe that same math teacher was crossed trained to fill in for the football coach when he was out. There are three distinctly different jobs in the City Hall Office.   When the City Clerk’s husband had surgery, we managed to keep things going until she returned. However, there are certain aspects of her job, we can never do. There is a lot of liability in her job and she has had specialized training for that responsibility. Each job is diverse and requires specialized education and training.

In my opinion, the comments made by the mayor were a direct insult to the City Clerk and the office staff. The office staff has always managed to cover any job in the absence of another member.   That is the VERY definition of “CROSS TRAINING.”

 

Joy Taylor

Florala