Leadership Bartow Tours Polk County Government Offices

By Jeff Roslow, Leadership XVI Historian

Looking similar to evidence rooms one may see in a movie or on TV, much of the stuff was packed in boxes with letters and numbers, referring to which case it belonged. But there was also plenty in the open to see.
     There were pistols, rifles, a baby car toy and even a sofa. Shane Kent, who was giving the tour, told us someone was murdered on on that particular piece of furniture. I kept my hands in pockets as I walked by. You see these kinds of things on television, but there's a distance to it. This was too real.
     The trip to the landfill was also a little too real, but in a different way. Ana Wood, who runs the landfill, directed the bus driver to take our bus up the one-lane paved path to the top of the pile. The trip uphill gave us an interesting view of the covered garbage and I discovered what happens to a lot of the tires we throw away - they hold down the covering tarp.
     At the very top, we saw downtown Bartow in the distance. On a clear day, Ms. Wood told us, you could see forever. She said you could even seen Bok Tower.
     Our bus driver, Willie, turned the bus around, and headed down the hill.Then he got on the loudspeaker and challenged us to come up with a name for the hill, being that we reached the top.
     Someone yelled, "Mount Willie." He smiled.
     Did we ever decide on anything?
     Those two stops were not the only places where the class learned a bit on the trip. We had the opportunity to see where and how street signs are made. Also at the traffic department we got to see all the cameras and computers that keeps track of the street lights and intersections countywide. Each light is on timers and the times change depending on the time or day.
     Elections are not what they used to be, Lori Edwards, Polk's Supervisor of Elections told us. Normally held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, Election Day could now be called "Election Weeks." In the last election, 79,000 absentee ballots were requested and 69,000 were mailed back by Election Day, Edwards said. Absentee voting has steadily gone upward in every election since it was introduced. That's not so just in Polk County, Edwards said, but all over the state.
     And while computers have taken over a lot in the Supervisor of Elections' office, plenty of manpower is still needed when election time comes around.
The supervisor's office hired 1,400 people for the polls on Election Days, (which are paid positions). In the last election in November, they distributed 3,332 pens, 205 cell phones, 3,020 paper signs, 15,000 number 2 pencils, 15 tons of ballots and 180 iPads.
     That was for a regular election day. Coming April 7, City Council elections in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Auburndale, Lake Wales and Bartow are scheduled.
Joe Tedder, the Polk County Tax Collector, told us a new job (well, they've been doing it for five years) his office (and the other 66 in the state), have taken over. It is driver license registration services from the state. Tedder simply included it in the list of duties his office does.
     Well, maybe not so simply.
     With one of Tedder's bigger focuses being on customer service, as he tracks the amount of time a person spends with a customer, what the service is and how much time a person waits for service and service for a person wanting a driver's license is double the time.
We also met with Marsha Faux, our Property Appraiser. She showed us a cool way to use the Property Appraiser's web service to find out about any piece of property in Polk County. The site even has an app!
     At lunch time, we were treated with a sit-down lunch and learn session with County Administrator Jim Freeman and County Commissioners Melony Bell, Ed Smith and Todd Dantzler.
     Bell said, “There are meetings every day but we're also on boards that serve the county.” And while each commissioner serves a certain district, he or she is responsible to all Polk citizens. She challenged the group to find a committee on which to serve.
     The county employs about 2,000 people and has a budget of $1.3 billion.
     Thanks to our day chairs, Lea Ann Thomas, Assistant County Manager; and John Bohde, Land Development Division Director. And many thanks to our Polk County Government. I think everyone agreed it was a great day.


Leadership Bartow Tours Polk County Government Offices By Jeff Roslow, Leadership XVI Historian Looking similar to evidence rooms one may see in a movie or on TV, much of the stuff was packed in boxes with letters and numbers, referring to which case it belonged. But there was also plenty in the open to see. There were pistols, rifles, a baby car toy and even a sofa. Shane Kent, who was giving the tour, told us someone was murdered on on that particular piece of furniture. I kept my hands in pockets as I walked by. You see these kinds of things on television, but there's a distance to it. This was too real. The trip to the landfill was also a little too real, but in a different way. Ana Wood, who runs the landfill, directed the bus driver to take our bus up the one-lane paved path to the top of the pile. The trip uphill gave us an interesting view of the covered garbage and I discovered what happens to a lot of the tires we throw away - they hold down the covering tarp. At the very top, we saw downtown Bartow in the distance. On a clear day, Ms. Wood told us, you could see forever. She said you could even seen Bok Tower. Our bus driver, Willie, turned the bus around, and headed down the hill.Then he got on the loudspeaker and challenged us to come up with a name for the hill, being that we reached the top. Someone yelled, "Mount Willie." He smiled. Did we ever decide on anything? Those two stops were not the only places where the class learned a bit on the trip. We had the opportunity to see where and how street signs are made. Also at the traffic department we got to see all the cameras and computers that keeps track of the street lights and intersections countywide. Each light is on timers and the times change depending on the time or day. Elections are not what they used to be, Lori Edwards, Polk's Supervisor of Elections told us. Normally held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, Election Day could now be called "Election Weeks." In the last election, 79,000 absentee ballots were requested and 69,000 were mailed back by Election Day, Edwards said. Absentee voting has steadily gone upward in every election since it was introduced. That's not so just in Polk County, Edwards said, but all over the state. And while computers have taken over a lot in the Supervisor of Elections' office, plenty of manpower is still needed when election time comes around. The supervisor's office hired 1,400 people for the polls on Election Days, (which are paid positions). In the last election in November, they distributed 3,332 pens, 205 cell phones, 3,020 paper signs, 15,000 number 2 pencils, 15 tons of ballots and 180 iPads. That was for a regular election day. Coming April 7, City Council elections in Lakeland, Winter Haven, Auburndale, Lake Wales and Bartow are scheduled. Joe Tedder, the Polk County Tax Collector, told us a new job (well, they've been doing it for five years) his office (and the other 66 in the state), have taken over. It is driver license registration services from the state. Tedder simply included it in the list of duties his office does. Well, maybe not so simply. With one of Tedder's bigger focuses being on customer service, as he tracks the amount of time a person spends with a customer, what the service is and how much time a person waits for service and service for a person wanting a driver's license is double the time. We also met with Marsha Faux, our Property Appraiser. She showed us a cool way to use the Property Appraiser's web service to find out about any piece of property in Polk County. The site even has an app! At lunch time, we were treated with a sit-down lunch and learn session with County Administrator Jim Freeman and County Commissioners Melony Bell, Ed Smith and Todd Dantzler. Bell said, “There are meetings every day but we're also on boards that serve the county.” And while each commissioner serves a certain district, he or she is responsible to all Polk citizens. She challenged the group to find a committee on which to serve. The county employs about 2,000 people and has a budget of $1.3 billion. Thanks to our day chairs, Lea Ann Thomas, Assistant County Manager; and John Bohde, Land Development Division Director. And many thanks to our Polk County Government. I think everyone agreed it was a great day.
Newsletter1 - February 16, 2015