Prosper Team,

Since coming on board as Interim Town Manager, I have enjoyed getting to know and work alongside many of you. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be your Interim Town Manager over these last couple of months. I am continually impressed by the passion, professionalism, and talent that you each provide the Town and our residents. It has been an honor to work with such a great team of people, and if I were going to remain in the Town/City Management business, this would be a place I would choose.

With that being said, I am doing everything I can to ensure you are left in good hands as we begin the search for the permanent Town Manager. We have hired a recruiting professional who has been working with myself, the Town Council, and staff to develop the job description, candidate profile, and selection criteria as well as a recruitment brochure for the Town Manager position. The search for the new Town Manager officially began on October 19 and the position is being advertised on the Town website as well as through TML and ICMA. The selection of finalists will be held in early December with interviews expected to be held in the first week of January. The Town Council has asked me to manage the selection process and I have committed my full participation to help select the right person for the job.

I have served in five different municipalities, and I always find that the very best organizations demonstrate an “attitude of service.” I wholeheartedly believe this organization has this at its core. One thing that is extremely important in operationalizing or implementing that attitude of service is to establish a Town-wide culture that encourages staff to go beyond the simple “yes” or “no” answers and provide options and alternatives whenever possible. I have already seen some examples of our team doing this for our customers. I want to encourage each of you to not only adopt the attitude of service but operationalize it whenever possible by going to the next step. It does take a little longer on the front end but pays huge dividends in terms of relationship-building with our customers and usually means less work on the back end of any process.

I am very proud of each of you and the work you all do. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your Interim Town Manager.

Sincerely,

Ron K. Patterson

Starting Monday, November 28, you can complete benefits enrollment, 24/7! This is your chance to ensure that you have the benefits that are best for you and your family as you head into the new year. All benefits-eligible employees who would like to make any changes to their current benefit elections must complete Open Enrollment through Benefitfirst.com no later than December 9. All new elections and/or changes will be effective January 1, 2023. It is also very important that you verify your personal information such as addresses, birth dates, social security numbers and beneficiary information. Employees are invited to attend an Open Enrollment Meeting on November 28 from 9 a.m. – noon in the Town Council Chambers located at Town Hall.

November’s fundraiser is a hoodie drive! Cornerstone Christmas provides 350 local children with a true Christmas blessing. We will collect *NEW* hoodies size 2T – Adult XXL. You can drop off your donations at a designated drop-off box on each floor, or bring them to the Human Resources Office, on or before Thursday, December 1st. Cornerstone also has Amazon and Target wishlists. Shop the Target List or shop the Amazon Wish List.  We have set a Town goal of 200 hoodies! If we reach our goal, the Employee Engagement Committee will pick a day to buy all employees pizza for lunch! Thank you in advance for your willingness to donate!

Save the date! Employee Appreciation Luncheon, Monday, December 5 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the PISD Community Room at Children's Health Stadium. Tender Smokehouse will be catering the event. There will be service awards to give away and lots of great raffle prizes! More details to come later this month!

BOO GRAM SUCCESS!! We sold 371 boo grams, which means one lucky winner will receive $371 cash from the 50/50 raffle and the other $371 will be donated to Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors Food Pantry! We appreciate your participation and hope you had fun with this new fundraiser idea! If you have any recommendations for future ideas, please reach out to a member of the Employee Engagement Committee.

Have you earned a THRIVES coin that you haven't yet redeemed? Stop by the Human Resources office to redeem your coin for a $15 gift card to any of your choosing including new options from Raising Canes Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Wild Wings, Panera Bread, Firehouse Subs, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Sonic, Whataburger, Golden Corral, Little Caesars Pizza and Steak 'N Shake.

As the new Prosper Honor Walls at Town Hall are nearing completion, we invite staff, the public and all of those who have served in our United States Armed Forces and Public Safety roles to join us for a special dedication ceremony on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11 at 10 a.m. outside of Town Hall.

These new Honor Walls were constructed in honor of Prosper residents and Town staff who have served their country and public servants who serve the community. The ceremony will include remarks by Town officials and a dedication of the Town Hall Honor Walls.

The idea to honor military members and public safety personnel with a public structure originated in 2019. With Town Council support, the Honor Walls project was funded in FY 2021-2022 and construction was completed in October 2022. The Honor Wall to the west includes a cast emblem for each military branch: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard. Police and Fire Department emblems are displayed on the eastern Honor Wall. Randall Scott Architects, designer of Town Hall, also designed the Honor Walls. For more information, please contact 972-569-1160.

The Parks and Recreation Department's work to plan and execute Celebrate Prosper, BBQ & Blues, on October 8 led to the most well-attended Fall Town event in memory! A crowd of 1,500 people made it out to Frontier Park for the event. Attendees got to meet Prosper-based nonprofit groups, Town Council and enjoy complimentary BBQ sandwiches, hot dogs, drinks, dessert and of course some blues and jazz music under the stars. Great job, PARD team, on successfully coordinating all the moving parts of this event!

Reach out to the CPI team if your department has a current process in mind that you would like to see improved. It could be something as simple as organizing team workstations or improving customer experiences with the town. Send your ideas to cpi@prospertx.gov and a coach will reach out to assist you.

Code Compliance Officer Trish Eller has been working on a case for over a year now trying to get a property owner help to repair his roof. Trish initially tried to get assistance from Habitat for Humanity and other sources, however, none of the options she was working on came through. Last month, Trish contacted Roger, the owner of Roger The Roofer. Trish asked him if he knew of anybody who would be willing to help the property owner repair his dilapidated roof. Roger said he does one charity project a year and that he would be able to do the job himself. After facilitating an introduction between Roger and the property owner, Roger the Roofer and his team provided the property owner with a brand-new roof valued at approximately $6,500, free of charge. Trish was recognized with a THRIVES coin for "Heart" and "Service" for bringing this community service project to life. The property owner was full of gratitude for Trish and Roger’s kindness and patience. Great job, Trish!

Officer Erin Hubbard was recognized for her efforts in another successful National Night Out on Tuesday, October 4. Prosper Police, Fire Rescue and Town officials paraded through the Town and visited 20 block parties throughout the evening for National Night Out (NNO). An estimated 500 total residents participated. This year was the first time since the pandemic in 2020 that public safety staff had the opportunity to get out to mix and mingle with neighbors. This year’s NNO was yet again another successful event that allowed police and fire rescue to heighten awareness of crime prevention and strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships. This was a fun opportunity for neighbors to get to know each other, exchange contact information, enjoy each other’s company, commit to looking out for one another and to visit with the Town's public safety personnel and Town leadership. Thank you again to Officer Hubbard and all of those who participated and helped make this year’s NNO such a success. Watch the recap video of this year's NNO: https://youtu.be/dPmodO3x4Lg

When members of a faith-based group showed up to film a video at a different time than was planned, Executive Assistant, Khara Sherrill and Sr. Communications Specialist, Wilson Haynes, thought quickly on their feet to work together to coordinate, film and produce the video on their own. Their efforts in working together displayed the THRIVES fundamental of "Teamwork." Great job and thank you both for your collaboration that led to a successful result and pleased parties involved in this video.

That’s a wrap folks! This year’s PFR P-Town Klownz went to fifteen PISD Elementary schools and performed fire and life safety shows. As always, they were a huge success in educating thousands of children again this year which could one day save a life. What they did last month was an incredible representation of Prosper Fire Rescue and the Town of Prosper. After one of the shows, they came upon this sweet girl upset that her teacher was out and that she had a substitute. When it was time to go back to class, the little girl requested an escort back to class. What’s a clown to do but make this little girl's day? She probably has no idea it actually made theirs! This is something they never take for granted. Great job to all of our firefighters and staff for always going the extra mile. A special thank you Klownz – Squirt (TJ King), Booster (Colby Rogers), Plug (Jaycob Miller), Woody (Caleb Robbins)!

Congratulations to Wally DesChamps and Shay Gerritsen with the Prosper Community Library who were presented a THRIVES recognition by Councilmember Craig Andres for exceeding the needs of a community member. Lyle McLeroy was also presented with a THRIVES coin for her exceptional customer service. Congratulations Lyle, Wally and Shay. We appreciate your dedication to service at the library!

When a resident noticed an electrical transformer box on their property was leaking a large amount of oil out onto their lawn, they called the Town for advice. Although this was a box that was managed by CoServ, Signs and Signal Supervisor, Alex Schmidt, came out to the residence to confirm the issue and took the initiative to personally contact CoServ on the resident's behalf to schedule the replacement of the box. Not only did Alex save the resident a service call to CoServ, he even followed back up with the resident and with CoServ over the next several weeks to ensure the transformer box was properly replaced. The resident sent in an email to thank Alex for his exceptional customer service and went on to mention in their email: "My wife and I recently moved to Prosper this past year after living in multiple communities across the country and have been very impressed and grateful for the information support and service levels provided by all of the Town of Prosper associates."

Do you have an Above and Beyond story you would like to share? Tell us by submitting your story or whom you would like to recognize to be included in next month's Employee Edition!

On September 30, the Prosper Police Department had three officers graduate from the Basic Peace Officers Academy at Collin College Law Enforcement Academy. Join us in congratulating officers Ashley DeLaCruz, Javier Zarate and Ashley Cooper. During the ceremony, Officer Ashley DeLaCruz was named “Most Improved Marksman” and Officer Ashley Cooper was named class Salutatorian. You make us all Prosper proud!

Congratulations to Paul Naughton, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation, upon his graduation from Directors School, the National Recreation and Parks Association’s two-year professional development leadership program. Paul and others from municipalities from around the state also took part in this leadership program which was held in Oak Brook, IL in August. Well done, Paul! 

Prosper’s first annual Veterans Day 5K & Fun Run is coming up on Saturday, November 12 at Frontier Park, 1551 Frontier Pkwy. Any proceeds from the race will benefit the future Veterans Memorial, planned for Frontier Park.

Open to all ages and abilities, the 5K and Fun Run welcomes everyone! Seasoned runners and walkers, beginning runners, children, stroller-pushing parents and those who use wheelchairs are encouraged to sign up for either event. The event will begin at 8 a.m. with a short program. The 5K begins at 8:30 a.m. and the one-mile Fun Run follows at 9 a.m. Register today for the 5K or the One Mile Fun Run! The deadline to register is November 9.

Not a runner or walker? Please visit prosperrotary.org to learn about the Veterans Memorial and ways to support the project.

If you are interested in volunteering for the race events, please contact Dan Baker, Director of Parks and Recreation, at 972-569-1160.

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