By Rupert Mayor Paul Fries
During the summer of 2008, the City of Rupert, along with the rest of the nation, faced fuel costs that were going through the roof. With one quarter left in the fiscal year many city departments were at or near the budgeted expenditure for fuel. We had to come up with a way to mitigate the cost increases over which we had no control.
Rupert Police Chief Randy White was the first department manager to take action by instituting a 25 mile limit per shift on discretionary patrol. The electric,; water,; wastewater and street departments suggested a four day, ten hour workweek. After much thought and discussion this schedule was implemented for these four departments.
In the beginning some employees really liked the new schedule, some were lukewarm and some did not like it. However, they were all willing to put their feelings aside for the benefit of the City of Rupert.
This approach, though helpful, was not a cure all for the rising fuel costs. It did nothing to soften the blow to emergency response situations, such as police and fire calls or other utility emergencies and service outages. It also does not help route situations such as garbage collection.
These trucks must travel the same amount of miles, whether it is in four days or five.
The longer this work schedule was in place the more employees liked it. In early 2010, some employees who work in City Hall approached us about trying the 4/10 schedule with City Hall. These thoughtful employees also brought with them solutions to the obvious problems we could think of before the plan could be tested.
On April 5,2010, City Hall began the new schedule on a temporary basis. The transition has been much smoother than expected, to this point. From a customer standpoint, City Hall is now accessible for 42 hours per week as opposed to 40 hours on the old schedule. The expanded hours during the day allow customers to walk in prior to and after normal business hours, Monday thru Thursday. Even though the office is not open on Fridays, our customers still have access via telephone to any city-provided service.
Just call 436-9600 and listen to the recorded instructions. For emergencies or after hour service, dial 434-2320.
We are continually seeking new ways to serve the needs of our customers. One improvement we are currently looking at is being able to accept internet payments and this would allow the customer to view their account information and history.
To this point, the transition has been a positive experience for the City of Rupert and its employees, without apparent sacrifice of service to the customer. It will take more time to quantify the monetary savings and productivity.
Paul E. Fries Sr., Mayor
Rupert City Hall Hours
7:30am – 6:00 pm
Monday- Thursday
