What motivates a besieged city staff to feel good?

You had to wonder what was going through the minds of city employees as they listened to Pat Croce spout off about the wonders of serving their master last week. Croce appeared gratis at the behest of Mayor Sal Perillo. Kicking off the city's customer service campaign, the dynamic motivational speaker was invited to energize a besieged city workforce.
Speaking with incredible gusto, Croce's energy and enthusiasm lit up the room. Creative, innovative, resourceful and adventurous, what could be more motivating than the remarkable success and indestructible positive attitude of this colorful leader? You could feel the incredible energy of the smiling author of "I Feel Great and You Will Too." He oozes inspiration.
Urging the gathered workforce to "take action on their passion," Croce reminded the "roving ambassadors" of Ocean City to remain positive and work together as the city's population swells ten-fold from 15,000 to over 150,000. Who better to motivate those charged with the responsibility of keeping America's Greatest Family Resort clean, safe and respected throughout a long, grueling summer?
Unfortunately, if it depends on an energized workforce, the "Keys to OCNJ Success" campaign couldn't come at a worse time. With all the sniping and spitting at these treasured employees by penny-pinching city council members and a good portion of the citizenry, it might take more than an infusion of Croce's trademark energetic enthusiasm to spark their passion.
"Everyone has a position in life," Croce said. "My goal is to make sure that you know you're working at one of the greatest places on the planet. You have the power to make those around you feel great."
Yes, they sure do. And on a different day in a different city, they might actually believe it. But in this year, in this city, who would blame any of them for feeling a little skeptical?
As Perillo's proposed $56 million municipal budget awaits council action, these roving ambassadors, who have it in their power to make or break Ocean City's stellar reputation, are under-appreciated and under fire for their budget-breaking affect on the city tax rate. Keeping up with the escalating costs of maintaining these workers on the payroll will increase the levy by 1.9 cents this year.
A serial entrepreneur, Croce used his life experiences to impress the need for the city and businesses to work together as one team. Perhaps he was preaching to the choir, his message somewhat lost on those who are already believers. Would it not have been better to have invited a wider audience, the doubters, those on council and across the town who truly believe that much of our workforce is indispensable?
A recently commissioned marketing study determined that most tourists find out about Ocean City by word of mouth. Croce impressed the importance of a good first impression.
"You can never do a kindness too soon, because you never know when it is too late," he said.
Workers were reminded to treat visitors with respect and courtesy and to be up to date about events and other tidbits about the city. Perillo advised the workforce to play up the positive sides of Ocean City to visitors and investors: a large tax base and low tax rate, more guarded beaches than any resort in the state and great schools.
"We can't keep it in this room, we have to let visitors and investors know about it," said Perillo.
Hitting the nail on the head, Croce said, "It's the positive, enthusiastic people who push this island."
People! It takes people to spread the word. We're a service industry. The bone of contention in the budget is the 66 percent dedicated to our undervalued workforce. While trying mightily to maintain a semblance of a year-round resort for more than a century, we have also been a summer resort. Those "word-of-mouth" visitors are what keep our economy humming, and many of them buy into what we are peddling, making up a huge chunk of our tax base. In short, they shower us with much-needed revenue. In return, we ought to be happy to provide a friendly smile and the services necessary to maintain our well-earned reputation as a first class family resort.
I'm no fan of tax increases, and I sure hate to see tax money wasted. Budgets at the state and national level are so enormous it's almost impossible to prevent. We're rarely able to see or appreciate the value of our tax dollars. Locally it's a different story. Tax dollars pay for public safety, schools and the cost of maintaining a clean, safe community. You see it all around, in clean streets, well-maintained libraries, community centers, parks and recreation, groomed beaches and a welcoming Boardwalk with clean public bathrooms, things we too often take for granted. Call 911 and you'll have help anywhere on the island in less than four minutes. You pay for an enhanced quality of life.
If it all disappeared would you notice? Do you think the tourists would notice? Who would want to call Ocean City home if it wasn't the same town we now know and love? The attentive audience at the Tabernacle showed familiar faces - second, third and fourth generation members of the city "family." How do you think all this sniping makes our employees feel? They've been serving their community a lot longer than some of the council members have been residents.
"We should all be in this together," said city engineer George Savastano, who was in charge of the public works department before taking charge of zoning, code compliance, construction and planning. "Our employees do a good job. We've lost staff year after year and they've made do with less and less.
"To me, we should always look to improve, and no doubt we could. There's been an unfair targeting of public employees. Like everything else, there is a range of abilities and capabilities and we have our share of issues like any organization," Savastano continued. "But to paint the entire workforce with a broad brush is terrible. To hear publicly that we have 'sweetheart deals' is very upsetting. We have families and we have to make ends meet. We work hard to make this city a better place. I represent a department here, and we do appreciate that we work for the public. We think that the public appreciates what we do. Some of the things we are hearing are disheartening."
"I'm proud to do what I do. We provide a fair and appropriate service for the cost," he added. "We are always able to improve. I feel strongly about that and I expect a lot. I'd be the first to challenge, privately criticize and defend them publicly when they need to be defended. We're not perfect, but we provide a good service."
With new construction down, some have questioned the need for maintaining the level of service in the engineering office.
"The staffing levels are what we need," said Savastano. "Construction clearly slowed down but the state audit shows that the construction office is understaffed. The state says we need more people, 60 man-hours more, or one and a half people. The bottom line is we can get by with minimal staffing, but not less. It wouldn't be prudent to cut staff. The code and compliance office brings in a significant amount of revenue. It's a service; you have to be able to help people. There is not a linear relation between housing starts and the construction office. For years, the construction office has been severely understaffed."
Another bone of contention is the Aquatic and Fitness Center, which lost $240,000 last year, less than what the city paid in surveys. Council is looking to privatize.
"It's a community asset," said director Wendy Moyle.
An audit of the "cost center" is in the works, the results will show numerically how the center fares, but how do you measure the goodwill of the employed "ambassadors?" How do you measure the "profit" of something intangible - such as importance of a fitness facility to the fabric of the community?
"We serve the needs of a lot of people, from babies to senior citizens," said Moyle. "A lot of people are really upset by this, a very strong group that will take action by whatever means they have to. The center is more than fitness facility, it's a place where someone who has just lost a spouse can come meet new friends and stay healthy or a new mom can come for support and a chance to get back in shape. Children learn to swim; our adult aqua-size classes are very popular. What we have now works.
"We do a lot of community events, what better place for people to learn about what's going on?" she added. "We should be a part of the city family, not privatized. Do you think a private company is going to promote Ocean City? They talk about pushing services. That's what we do.
"You can't measure the value of the center is numbers and dollars," said Moyle. "It's a great selling point for our residents and visitors. Many people come to Ocean City because they can come here to work out or swim. We have a big impact; we provide a huge community service. Our staff has formed a bond with these people. We are a great support system.
"Recreation is very important to people," said Moyle. "Privatizing the center will change the tone, and it could cost more money. It's upsetting to members and employees it's even being discussed. The members feel like they're looking at them as numbers. It's something that can't be qualified. The quality of life would suffer. When the city took over the center in the early 1990's, they made a promise that they would be there and stick by us. The center is a good thing for the city. Morale is down but nobody is listening."
When you start toying with public safety and the lives of our valued employees, isn't it a little hypocritical to ask them to promote the city as they're led to the guillotine?
Fortunately for the effervescent Croce, he doesn't work for the city. He can say "I feel great and you will too," with a straight face and a smile. Can our city employees do the same?

Ann Richardson can be e-mailed at annrichardson[at]catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250, or visiting www.shorenewstoday.com and clicking on the Speak Out link.