Topic: Thank you letter

To: Phoenix City Council, District 8 Staff and Councilwoman Kate Gallego

This letter is written to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the district office as an intern. The willingness for the staff to accept me into their office has been extremely encouraging to me because everyone made me feel so welcome.

Over the time I have been with District 8, I have had some pretty interesting projects to work on. Also, the people who work at city hall were all so very cooperative and sympathetic to finding solutions to the problems or concerns of the constituency.

Most of all, the most impactful part of this internship was sitting in on the important meetings, dealt with the decision making process. To trust me with having discretion in these meetings has been really encouraging and gave me confidence that I would be able to work well in this team setting. Also, those in other areas of the organization, who were in those meetings made me feel included in the conversation.

Had it not be for Councilwoman Gallego following up on my inquiry into internship opportunity, I do not think that I would have had such a fulfilling opportunity. The professionalism and intelligence shown by her, the chief of staff, and district aids is inspiring. This gives me great hope in finding a work opportunity in public service! Thank you!

Very Respectfully,

Derek Serrano

Topic: Most important things I learned from the internship & meeting goals

This internship has taught me so much about public service on the city level. I was exposed to many different areas that gave me first hand experience seeing how the different parts of the organization operate.

Without exaggeration, every part of my internship gave me valuable knowledge on how staffers are able to interact with the multiple areas in city hall.  There were times where I stopped what I was doing just to sit in on the meetings or phone calls where solutions were being discussed. This is where I did most of my learning. Also, the kind of talent the City of Phoenix attracts is extremely high. There are many who take their job seriously and are really professional in their jobs.

I feel like I learned the most from those in the council who took the time to explain things to me while there were council meetings. This real-time explanation was such a change from academic learning and it gave me the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the operations of city hall that, I believe, I would not have gained otherwise. Additionally, the fast paced environment has given me the opportunity to adjust to the speed that is required when learning about the issues facing the district. It takes a really focused individual to take in all the information in a given day.

 Overall, I could not have chosen a better internship as my main source of hands on learning and as an outlet to learn from those in the profession. The amount of people that are affected by the decisions is quite remarkable and I hope to one day be a permanent part of the staff that promotes that kind of ethical, responsible representation of an electorate.

Free Write: Tour of the Phoenix Convention Center

 One of the most memorable parts of my internship has been getting the opportunity to tour the Phoenix Convention Center. Recently, there has been events held that have drawn a lot of attention to the city. This has made the properties valuable to Phoenix.

The convention center administers two additional properties—including the Orpheum theatre and Symphony Hall—and has dedicated planners to be there from start to finish of an event. Each of the venues has a seating limit that goes a long way to determining how suitable it is to the event. If there is a need for technological equipment, there is the latest available.

Food service is a major component to the center in that it requires the most real time logistical management. The time requirement, seating, service, and food quality all go to make it a complicated task for any event. There are many supervisors and managers who make it their business to cater an event with minimal problems.

For those who do not have their event catered, there are full service restaurants that can be opened when needed. These places offer a great variety of food to suit many tastes.

Phoenix has done an amazing job in creating a space that can host many different events while still being profitable. This potential to become a top tier convention location has prompted the city to continually invest into the center, keeping it relevant and attractive. It is an impressive place to visit and I would definitely give it my recommendation!

Career Service Post #2

For this assigned post, I chose to submit my resume and a generic cover letter to one of my professors for review.

Prior to submission, my resume and cover letter were developed in ENG 301 Writing for the professions at ASU. In this class we evaluated the styles that work best for our career fields. For mine I used a simple and straightforward example and over the course of a few weeks was able to create most of my application materials.

Using the completed documents, I chose a potential job posting and applied my cover letter. That letter, resume, and job posting were submitted for review with my professor.

She was able to get back to me relatively quickly and give her suggestions. I am extremely grateful for her comments because she picked up on some errors that I overlooked. One of these errors was keeping all of my accomplishments in the same tense. After a correction, my resume looks much better then before.

I think after this experience, getting suggestions/comments from people like a professor will be more of a priority. After looking at my updated documents, they look so much better that it makes me wonder why it took me so long to get them reviewed!

Free Write: My Observations of Law Enforcement and Fire Upper Management

I have been pleasantly surprised and impressed by the way upper management of police and fire manage to be the link between their respective organizations and city management. They are professional and always put off a great appearance, to include well rounded attitudes/personalities.

The addition of specifically placed officers, who act as liaisons, has allowed staff to utilize them as permanent points of contact. Personally, the officer for the city hall has been tremendously important to a few constituent issues I was tasked. He was effective in helping me by being able to suggest solutions that I would not have thought.

Fire chiefs have act along side city officials to provide solutions for Phoenix residents by supporting flood abatement issues. Also, they have plans in place for residents to attain and fill sandbags to protect their property.

Their leadership has taught me a great deal when talking about how to effectively communicate between different sections in a government organization.

Organizational Strengths

 It is apparent that the past and present city employees have positioned the city to adapt and adjust to the changing conditions it faces. Leadership, structure, accountability, and efficiency are some of the great strengths I have seen in my time at city hall.

Specifically, I know the city council runs extremely ethical when it comes to open meeting laws. This fact cannot be taken lightly in that it is essential to prevent petty corruption and serves the best interests of the city’s residents. 

If I could, I would make the overall climate in city hall more positive. As in some of my previous positions, there is sometimes a negativity that is a result from customer service. Especially in planning and zoning, I have found this occurs between some of the front desk people and newly arrived customers. This is not to say that it is a serious problem, but it seems like there is an area of improvement. I would evaluate the moral and satisfaction of the employees, paying attention to improving upon those two areas. It is my belief that this kind of improvement can make interactions between government employees and constituents more of a positive experience.

Lastly, processes and procedures need to be displayed in a format that a layman without knowledge of government may be able to quickly understand. There have been many times where questions or concerns have been addressed that could have been resolved by all parties involved having a better understanding. Realistically, what I have seen is a well run city government.