Thank You Letter

Dear Department Director,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to you for accommodating my internship project. I am grateful that I was able to complete my internship at my place of business under your guidance.

During my internship project, I had the opportunity to attend several meetings and training sessions that allowed me access to invaluable information about liquor license processed in Arizona. I was able to apply this knowledge to our current office procedures as well as use the information to complete my internship goals.

I am also appreciative that I was able to network with some many influential individuals from local government agencies and from within the liquor industry. These people were able to provide answers to questions that I had during my internship and I will be able to use them as a source of information in the future.

The knowledge and experience that you have gained in your years of working in the public sector were proven to be invaluable. I truly appreciate you taking the time to mentor me. Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Kristina Kidd

What Did I Learn; Did I Accomplish My Goals

The most important things that I have learned from my internship experience is good customer service is the key to providing quality public service and that you always need to have a backup plan. Throughout my internship I was able to closely observe the practices of my Department Director.

In my opinion I was able to meet all of my initial goals of my internship project. My first goal was to learn more about the liquor license process, and I was able to accomplish this goal by attending training courses and working group meetings with Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, My second goal was to compare Maricopa County’s procedures with the procedures used by other local governing bodies to see if Maricopa County’s procedures needed to be changed. I was able to accomplish this goal by attending working group meetings which allowed me to collaborate with other local government representatives. I also attended the County Clerk’s retreat and was able to network with other county offices. My last goal was to compile and present a fee schedule for processing liquor licenses in Maricopa County. My initial goal was to present my proposal to Maricopa County Administration (County Manager, Board of Supervisors). I was not able to meet this goal due to conflicts with scheduling but I was able to present my proposal to my supervisors and Department Director.

Career Service Learning 2

For this assignment I chose to attend the HireArizona Job Fair at Chase Field on December 3^rd. Current ASU and NAU alumni and students were invited to participate in this free event. I will be completing a degree in Public Service and Public Policy next semester. I am very excited to see what opportunities will be available to me once I finally obtain my degree.

A link on ASU’s website for the career fair informed me that I must register online before I could attend the event. Once I registered I received several emails that gave directions to the event and the information for free parking. The day before the event, I received an invitation to attend a free webinar session that would explain how to “maximize my time at the event”. Unfortunately I had to work during the time that the webinar was scheduled so I was not able to attend.

I work just a couple blocks away from Chase Field, so I was able to attend during my lunch hour. I was disappointed to see that there were not many government organizations to apply with. The only government agencies that I found were Phoenix Police Department and Arizona Department of Economic Security. All of the other organizations that were present were from the private sector and they were offering jobs related to technology (software developers, system administrators, etc.) There were a few agencies in the medical, banking and marketing industry.

Free Write

My internship project is centered on liquor license processes and procedures that is an active function of my office. Last week I was able to attend a training session that was hosted by the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control (ADLLC) – Compliance and Regulation Department. A co-worker and I drove to Scottsdale Public Library and attended a 4 hour training session with other local jurisdictions that are also required to process liquor license applications for the State of Arizona.

The gentleman that was the main speaker for the training was a compliance officer for ADLLC. It was interesting to learn that compliance officers with ADLLC are sworn peace officers that have the same authority as police officers and sheriff’s deputies. They are able to arrest people and issue citations as needed. Additionally, duties of the compliance officer are liquor license violations such as serving without a license or serving to underage individuals.

Some interesting things that I learned from the training session were that there are 2 brand new types of liquor licenses that are being issued. A series 20 license is for alternating proprietors and a series 21 is for custom crushes. Alternating proprietors are issued to allow different wineries to make wine with someone else’s equipment. For example, a warehouse might hold wine making equipment and each winery will bring their fruit to the warehouse to make wine. A custom crush license is issued to an existing winery and allows people to bring their own fruit so that the winery can make wine for them.    

Free Write

There comes a time when you have to leave the company that you work for in search of new and better opportunities. I feel like I might be at that point in my career. I have worked for my current company for over 4 years. When I interviewed for my company, I had just started school to obtain an Associate’s Degree. I was able to advance quickly within my small department but unless I make on a management role (which will not be available until someone vacates the position) there is no room for further advancement with my department.

Next May I will graduate with my Bachelor’s Degree in Public Service/Public Policy and I am excited to see what doors open now that I have a degree. I was able to advance within my current department without the required degree because I was able to use time on the job in lieu of a degree. Also, most of my co-workers do not have 4 year degree and only a couple have a 2 year degree.

My company emails new job posting to all employees company email each Thursday. I usually scan through each job posting to see what the requirements and pay are for each job. All job postings that are comparable to my current salary required at least a 4 year degree and several years of experience. These requirements have deterred me for applying in the past but I plan to start applying for a new job within the next few months.

Strenght of my Organization

I feel that the main strength of my organization is customer service. The customers that our office serves are members of the public, various government entities and other Maricopa County Departments. Our job is to answer any questions that the public might have related to Maricopa County and more specifically the Board of Supervisors. My office answers phone calls and emails and accepts walk-in customers that need help or services from Maricopa County. Often our office is not the correct office that can assist them but before we can send them away, we must find the correct agency that can help them.

 

My Director has strict rules for excellent customer service. We are not allowed to forward phone calls without first introducing the customer to the correct department. If the correct agency is located within our 10 story building, we must accompany the customer to the correct agency that can help them. It may seem like a lot of work but I think it is an example of excellent customer service. Other places might respond with “sorry we can’t help you” and turn the customer away. Our office is required to research the customer’s request and find the correct answer to their question.

 

One thing that I would do differently if I were in charge would be to streamline some of the office procedures. Our Director has been in place for almost 25 years and some office procedures have not changed since she first started. Technology has changed so much over the last few years and our procedures are not updated to match these improvements. If the procedures could be updated, it would save our office time and resources when completing day-to-day office functions.

Free Write 3

As this year comes to a close, it is a very hectic time for my office.  My office is the Clerk for the Board of Supervisors so that means we work for them and handle all the administrative functions for them. At the beginning of each year - a new Chairman of the Board of Supervisors is elected. This means that when the new Chairman starts, all processes and procedures that our office has been doing for the last year will change. This will be my fifth chairman change and for my experience, each chairman and their staff like to do things different from the last chairman.

For example, one chairman will allow you to walk into their office and speak with them in person when a situation arises. However, another chairman may require that you send their staff an email to explain the situation and wait for them to respond to you. This can cause frustration when you are trying to get a quick response.

Additionally, the dates and times for weekly meetings that have been the same for the last year are now going to change. Our office will now have to change our schedule so that it works with the new chairman's schedule. This will be confusing for the first few meetings.

Public Service

As you know, I work for Maricopa County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. I am also doing my internship with my employer. My office is in charge of many different things that serve the public.

Here are some of the things that my office is responsible for:

• process liquor license, firework, bingo, off-track betting applications
• special taxing districts (irrigation, water, fire, street light)
• public records requests for Maricopa County information
• Boards and Commissions in Maricopa County
• Franchise (cable tv, phone, etc.)
• Accept process of services for Maricopa County
• minutes and agendas for public meetings

Those are just some of the responsibilities of our office. Our office has a main phone number that the public uses to reach our office. We provide the public with answers to questions regarding all departments within Maricopa County. So our office has to be very knowledgeable about that department does what so that we can better serve the public.

Maricopa County is an extension of the State of Arizona so that means our office is governed by Arizona Statutes. Our office is required to preform certain functions (such as what is listed above) as prescribed by statute.

For example, our office is required to process liquor license applications for individuals or organizations that want to sell or serve alcohol. Some licenses require a public hearing before a license can be issued and our office makes sure the public hearing is scheduled and held within a timely matter.

Free Write 2

My regular job and my internship is with the Maricopa County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. I came from the world of retail and this is my first "office" and "professional" type job. My supervisors took a chance when they hired me because I did not have any experience doing what I am doing. I had just started community college and I still worked for Wal-Mart.

When I started here 5 years ago, I was hired to attend meetings and write the summary and minutes after each meeting. My writing skills were terrible and definitely not what this office was looking for. Luckily after just a couple months of doing the minutes, a person decided to leave the department and I was able to fill her position. My new position required me to review old documents and determine if they had significant value and needed to be kept or if they could be disposed. Apparently I excelled in that job because I have had 3 promotions since then.

Currently I am working with another person to publish 100+ item agendas every 2 weeks for Board of Supervisor meetings. This may not seem like a lot of work but IT IS! I have to read each item and make sure the same information is stated in the contact that will be signed. I also have to work with departments to make sure they meet statutory regulations and deadlines. I have to coordinate presentations and award ceremonies that will be at a meeting. Occasionally I work with highly confidential agenda items that require special handling.

Free Write

I received some good news regarding my internship project. The Arizona Department of Liquor will be hosting 4 training sessions in the next couple weeks for government agencies and individuals in the liquor industry.

When my internship first started, I had plans of attending bi-weekly meetings with other local jurisdiction agencies. After just a few meetings, this plan was put on hold until security system issues could be resolved. I was very nervous because I did not know what direction my internship project would go in.

I am happy that these training sessions are happening now because I need more information to add to  my final project proposal. My proposal will consist of what I learned from my internship and how I can improve the liquor license processes and procedures in our office. I feel that the training sessions will give me a better understanding of the entire liquor license process because the information is coming from a liquor license officer.

The first training session is next week for 4 hours and I am really looking forward to the presentation!

Free Write

Today is Friday and I am at work until 5PM. I just got back from an unexpected fire drill! I work to the top floor of a 10-story building that probably houses over a thousand people. Fire drills are always so chaotic and I would hate to see what would happen during a REAL emergency! Most women dress professionally and that included high-heeled shoes. It is very difficult to go down 10 flights of stairs wearing high heels. Not to mention the fact that hundreds of other people are trying to go down the stairs at the same time as you.

I was very intimidated to work in downtown Phoenix because the area is so congested with people and buildings. The streets are confusing because certain streets only allow traffic to go one way, some streets only allow you to turn left during specific times a day and there is virtually no parking. Luckily my building is right off the freeway and I have a parking garage to park in. Other Maricopa County offices/departments have to pay to park in a parking garage and they do not get reimbursed. Luckily I get to park for free!

Leadership

Leadership plays a role in my internship project because I am basically supervising myself during this project. My supervisor came up with the main project idea but has left the rest to me. I have to determine which information is needed and what sources to use. I am able to gather and analyze information for my project when I have downtime at work. I have to use my time wisely so that my internship project does not affect my regular duties.

I feel that I am able to demonstrate leadership skills because I am learning new information with my research and rewriting processes and procedures that other employees in the office will follow. My project is based on processing liquor licenses which is a function of my office. When I learn new information, I am also sharing that with other employees and answering their questions.

Leadership is displayed by every employee in my small office. Each person is assigned to specific tasks and each person is the “expert” on that task. For example, one co-worker is in charge of Special Taxing Districts within Maricopa County. She is the expert on this subject and is able to make decisions. She is also able to work with other employees who need to learn about Special Taxing Districts and delegate tasks to them.

Supervisor Interview

As I have previously explained, I am doing my internship with my current employer: Maricopa County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. In addition to my regular duties, I am doing a special project regarding liquor license processes and procedures.

For this blog entry, I chose to profile one of my supervisors. My supervisor Janet has worked in this department for almost 10 years and has been a supervisor for 3 years now.

The main job responsibilities of her position are to:

·        publish agendas for Board of Supervisors every 2 weeks

·        work with different departments to add items on the agenda

·        process documents from that were approved at each meeting

Janet only has her Associates Degree but she has numerous years of experience working in an administrative position and with local government agencies. She attends training sessions to better her supervisor skills. Janet also attends training when new features are added to the software program that our office uses to create agendas. She uses this knowledge to train the other employees in the office.

I would be interested in this position because it will be different duties than what I am currently doing. I like to be challenged and I feel this position would do just that. This position also will be an increase in pay for me.

Career Service Event

This afternoon I attended the first “Meet the Chiefs Speaker Series” event located at ASU’s Downtown campus. Professor Gonsher has put together 3 of these events that will happen in the next few weeks. Each event will feature an individual who is currently working as a Chief of Staff and/or Policy Advisor for an elected official in Arizona. Also, pizza and drinks are provided! :)

The speaker from this afternoon was Luis Heredia, District Director for U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego. If you have even been to the UCENT building at the Downtown Campus, U.S. Congressman Gallego’s office is located right across from the MidFirst bank on the first floor.

Mr. Heredia started his presentation by giving an overview of how he first got involved with politics and discussed highlights of his resume. His previous employment included Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party, Public Affairs Director for Union Pacific Railroad Company and Community Relations Director for Congressman Raul Grijalva. Mr. Heredita spoke about his hard working immigrant family and how that aspect of his life has made him more economically aware.  

The part that I enjoyed most about this presentation was the part where students were able to ask Mr. Heredia questions. It appeared that the students who attended the event had an interest in politics and might want to purpose a career in politics. One of the questions was regarding the very low voter turn-out rates for District 7. Mr. Heredia stated that his district the third poorest district in the entire country and that more than 50 percent of the resident rent the home they live in. He explained that it is more difficult for his constituents to remember to update their voter registration cards each time they vote and that may attribute to the low voter turn-outs.

Free Write

For my free write assignment, I thought I would share a little bit about myself. J

I am 29 years old and have lived in the Phoenix-Metropolitan area my entire life. I currently live in Glendale with my husband, 2 children and our puppy.

Riley, my older son, is 10-years old and in 5^th grade. He enjoys riding his bike, roller skating and playing video games. He also enjoys spending time with his grandparents and fishing.

Nicolas, 10-months old, is the newest addition to our family.  He likes to put everything in his mouth, cry in the middle of the night and throw various objects around the house. Nicolas was a long-awaited arrival and he is definitely a blessing to our family.

Ella is a 2-year old, shih-tzu/toy poodle (shih-poo) that is just 6 pounds. She is the most loving, well-behaved dog I could ever ask for. She enjoys bows in her hair and getting her belly rubbed.  

If you did the math, you would see that I became pregnant with my older son shortly after graduating high school. Instead of accepting the full-ride scholarship that I earned for graduating 10^th in my high school class, I decided to take a semester off school before starting college and got pregnant during that time. While all my friends were are college studying/partying, I was at home being a fulltime worker and mother.

When my older son started Kindergarten (2010), I decided it was time to start community college. Next semester I will finally graduate with my BA. It only took 6 years!

It was kind of weird to be one of the older students in class, but I think it also worked to my advantage. I was able to concentrate on my studies instead of trying to find someone to date. I have a 3.75 GPA J.

My big presentation

The Clerks Retreat was different from anything that I had ever experienced.  I was surprised to find out that 14 out of the 15 county clerks in Arizona are women; and the only male clerk sent his deputy clerk (a female) to attend in his absence. The county clerks all stayed the same Phoenix hotel and used their conference rooms for meetings. The day time was reserved to discuss work related matters, the evenings were designated for leisure/personal time and meals were eaten as a group.

My presentation was scheduled for Friday morning at 9 AM (the final day of the retreat). When I arrived at the hotel, I was directed to a small outdated conference room with a little “kitchen area” in the corner. Some of the clerks brought their deputy clerks with them, so there were about 20 people in attendance. The clerks were in the middle of discussing a topic so I sat quietly to the side.

The speech that I drafted for my presentation included a brief introduction about me and my internship project, and then would specifically discuss how changes with the liquor license process would affect their office. I previously shared this information with my supervisor before I knew that I would be tasked with presented at the retreat.

When it was time for my presentation, my supervisor went into great detail when she introduced me and ended up explaining several points that were outlined in my speech. When it was my time to talk – I was stunned and didn’t know where to begin. I had to quickly scan my outline and figure out what points my supervisor did not discuss.

In the end, I was able to deliver the necessary information and respond to people’s comments. Both of my supervisors that were in attendance praised my presentation and said I was confident and well prepared. They had no idea that their introduction messed me up.    

How my project was changed

As I mentioned in my previous post, the original structure of my internship project had to change. One of the aspects of my project was to attend bi-monthly “working group” meetings with the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control to discuss/improve current liquor license processes. However, without any prior warning, the Dept. of Liquor made the decision to postpone all future meetings until further notice.

My supervisors were able to restructure my internship project to include a presentation at the Arizona County Clerks Association (ACCA) annual retreat. The ACCA is comprised of the clerks from all 15 counties in Arizona (including my supervisor). Conveniently, this retreat was being hosted by my supervisor the following week and she was able to add my presentation to the agenda. My supervisor suggested that I inform the other clerks about any upcoming changes or concerns that were discussed at the Dept. of Liquor working group meetings. (I had attended 6 meetings before they were postponed.)

So basically I had just a few days to prepare for this presentation that I would be giving to my supervisor and her peers. I had to gather all of the notes I had from the 6 meetings and decide which information was important enough to share. I also had to figure out how I wanted to present the information – either with handouts, a PowerPoint presentation or with just a regular speech.

I will tell you more about how the presentation went in my next post.

A typical day for me.

Since my internship is with my current place of employment, Maricopa County Clerk of the Board's Office, it will be difficult for me to describe my internship on a daily basis. In order to complete all of the hours required for the internship class, I need work on my internship project for at least 5 hours per week, in addition to my normal duties at my job.

So for example, this week I worked on my internship project for a couple hours each day. More specifically, I worked on my project for about 4 hours today because I have a presentation to give tomorrow morning. I will discuss this presentation in a future blog post.

I work in downtown Phoenix, right next to the Superior Court Complex (3rd Avenue and Jefferson). I work on the 10th floor (top floor) of the Maricopa County Administration building. My office is attached to the Board of Supervisors Office (highest elected officials of Maricopa County), so my office is very formal. My work day begins at 8:30 AM and I work in my cubicle until break or lunch time. At 5:00 PM exactly, I get to go home; but first I get to spend more than an hour in my car driving on the I-10. :)

My current duties are related to processing a 100+ item agenda, every 2 weeks. The items are submitted by different departments in Maricopa County and are usually contracts with outside vendors or other government agencies. After the items are approved, I am responsible for processing each document for signature/notarization. Most agenda items have some sort of issue - typos, incorrect verbiage, not enough information or no prior authorization.

Still no word..

Last week was a little hectic for my small office of just 13 women (yes, no men work in this office). One gal resigned, two women were out of town at a conference and a couple ladies took some vacation time off. When things like this happen (scheduling conflicts), the individuals that are working in the office have to cover the tasks/responsibilities of the absent individuals. Needless to say, I was not able to meet with my supervisors (one supervisor was out of town at a conference) to discuss the aspect of my internship that changed.

I have a tentative appointment on their calendar for this afternoon.

I have spent a lot of time on the internet researching the fees that other cities, towns and counties charge to process liquor license applications they received. I entered all of the information I gathered into an excel spreadsheet and separated the information by jurisdiction type (City/Town and County).

The reason I did this is because counties in Arizona are sub-divisions of the State of Arizona and they are governed by Arizona Revised Statutes. On the other hand, cities/towns in Arizona are municipalities that adopt their own set of rules to follow (charter). This means that there may be a statue that limits the amount of fees that can be charged by a county, but municipalities may be able to charge more in fees depending on what their charter states.

Since I work for Maricopa County, I want to make sure I do not suggest a fee schedule that may be in violation of the statutes that our office is required to follow. So far in my research, I found that other counties are charging fees to process liquor licenses. The fee amounts vary depending on the type of license that is being processed. For example,  Pima County and Yuma County charge $10 to process a Special Event License but Pinal and Navajo County charge $150 to process the same type of license.

This is just a small glimpse into the exciting research that I am completing for my internship project. Stay turned for more!

Slight Change of Plans..

My internship this semester is with my current employer - Maricopa County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Office. The special project that was assigned to me for my internship has to do with proposing fees for processing various types of liquor license applications.

In addition to this research project, I was also assigned to represent Maricopa County at collaborative meetings with representatives from Arizona Cities/Towns at "working group" meetings held by the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control (AZDLLC). These meetings were to be held once or twice a month until December. However, I received an email this week from AZDLLC that states they are postponing the "working group" meetings for a few months.

I was very nervous to deliver this news to my supervisor today because I did not know how the postponing of the meetings would affect my internship project. Attending the working group meetings with representatives from other municipalities allowed me to gain knowledge about the liquor licensing process. My plan was to utilize their knowledge and experience to help guide my research project.

My supervisor said that she would think about how to restructure my internship project tonight, and we would discuss my options tomorrow. I will let you know what is decided tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

Greetings.

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! 

My name is Kristina Kidd. I am in my senior year of the Public Service/Public Policy program. After graduation, I plan to continue my education goals with the Master of Public Administration program at ASU.   

For the past five years, I have worked as a Management Analyst for the Clerk of the Board of Supervisor's Office with Maricopa County. The Board of Supervisors are similar to a city council, but on a county level. 

Since I am already employed in the field of public service/public policy, my internship is with my current place of employment - the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. I will be doing a special project that is assigned to me by my supervisor, in addition to the regular duties of my job. 

The special project that I was assigned is to propose a fee schedule for processing various types of liquor license applications. Currently, Maricopa County does not charge any fees for processing various types of liquor license applications (restaurants, bars, liquor stores, etc.). I have been tasked with researching the possible implementation of a fee schedule. 

The three goals that I would like to accomplish through my internship is:

1. Learn more about how Maricopa County processes liquor license applications beginning with first receiving the application until final recommendation for approval/denial is made. 
2. Compare Maricopa County's process/fees with other jurisdictions in Arizona and prepare a recommendation to adopt fees or make a recommendation to not adopt fees.
3. Present my recommendation to my supervisor and possibly to Maricopa County Administration if there is a recommendation to implement fees.