Public Manager graduates
Twenty-two members of various Plant City agencies are now better equipped to excel in their leadership roles after graduating from the Certified Public Manager Program this month.
It is offered nationwide as a means of training and developing public managers and supervisors with more strategies to further serve their communities.
The Plant City students went through an 18-month course through Florida State University and the graduates were recognized during the Sept. 12 Plant City City Commission meeting.
New Digital Budget Book
Plant City residents now have an easier way of viewing the town’s annual budget with the use of the Interactive Digital Budget Book.
During that evening’s commission meeting, Budget Manager Lauren Shatto gave a presentation on the program that was rolled out by the Finance Department.
“Previously, the budget book was published as a PDF,” she said. “This PDF was not user friendly. It was cumbersome when trying to navigate through the different sections of the budget book.”
Users had to go back to the table of contents whenever they wanted to go to another section, and none of the charts or data would properly interact with the users.
The new budget book is a website providing the same content and is not only user friendly but offers dynamic information and has a built-in ADA compliance checker. It features an introduction, budget overview, and fund summaries – each with their own sections to choose from.
Under “Fund Summaries” is “General Funds” which displays all funding information with an interactive chart that can be increased in size and can be changed to a bar chart.
There’s also the option to choose “Funding Sources” and “Departments.”
All departments are housed in one centralized location for the users’ convenience. Before they were only found in their respective funds.
“Capital Improvements” has another interactive chart with all of the project information, and a tab to view debts is also available.
The department page consists of the same content as before, with program descriptions, personnel information, and the charts for the departments.
It also allows users to zoom in on the page while still maintaining high resolution.
It is currently operational and can be found by going onto the city’s website, www.PlantCityGov.com, clicking on “Departments” then “Finance” and then “Budget.”
Class of 2022 graduates:
• Assistant City Manager Mercedes Hermida-Perez
• Tina Barber of the Code Enforcement Division
• Lauren Shatto of the Finance Department
• Chief David Burnett of Plant City Fire Rescue
• Deputy Chief James Maxwell of Plant City Fire Rescue
• Deputy Chief Tim Mossgrove of Plant City Fire Rescue
• Cristi Charlow of the Human Resources Department
• Director Paul Shaver of Bruton Memorial Library
• Lori Thibert of Bruton Memorial Library
• Director Julie Garretson of the Parks and Recreation Department
• Robyn Baker of the Planning and Zoning Department
• Sgt. Gerald Baker of the Plant City Police Department
• Lieutenant Mike Ward of the Plant City Police Department
• Capt. Robert McLellan of the Plant City Police Department
• Capt. Al VanDuyne of the Plant City Police Department
• Jessica Alexander of the Plant City Police Department
• Sgt. Stevie Carmack of the Plant City Police Department
• Robert Rosenstein of the Procurement Division
• Director Wayne Everhart of the Streets and Stormwater Department
• Fred Baxter of the Traffic Operations Department
• Tonya Grant of the Utilities Department
• City Manager Bill McDaniel