On this episode, we talk with Assistant City Manager Sheryl Sealy and CFO Ashley Cason about women in leadership for the City of Thomasville. Also joining the show, Major Shane Harris from Thomasville Police Department chats with us a about an important event the TPD is hosting. Thanks for tuning in!
On this episode, we talk with Assistant City Manager Sheryl Sealy and CFO Ashley Cason about women in leadership for the City of Thomasville. Also joining the show, Major Shane Harris from Thomasville Police Department chats with us a about an important event the TPD is hosting. Thanks for tuning in!
Welcome to Thomasville Insights with the City of Thomasville. On the podcast, we'll talk to experts on everything from Thomasville history and events to daily operations and city business, all while having some fun in the process where your hosts Austin Reams and Christy Owens. Welcome to Thomasville Insights with the City of Thomasville. I'm Christy Owens and I'm joined today with Austin Reams handling hosting duties. So welcome, Austin. Glad to be with you today. So glad to be here and so glad to be talking to some inspiring women for women in leadership today. Yeah, we've been celebrating women and leadership all throughout the month of March, and we have two wonderful guests to sort of add to that celebration with us today and talk about their journeys with City of Thomasville and a little bit about their background and their leadership that they bring to our organization. So, Austin, why don't you do the duties and the introductions for us today? All right. Well, we've have Ashley Carson, the chief financial officer known as Dr. No. She tells people no on the budget. But that's very important because if she doesn't say no, then then we're in trouble. And and so we appreciate all of her. Our efforts and hard work and running that department. And then we're also joined with Sheryl Sealy, assistant city manager. And glad to have you, Sheryl. Thank you. Yeah. And so, Sheryl, I'll start with you first. Tell me you have a pretty neat career, neat journey at your beginnings with the city of Thomasville. And tell me about that a little bit. So it probably surprises a lot of people to know that I actually started with the city part time when I was in high school. So if you would have told me then if you would have told that little 16, 17 year old Sheryl what she would be doing one day, I would never have believed that that would have been possible. But, you know, when I graduated from high school, I stayed working for the city while I worked my way through college. And then after graduating, I continued working with the city, left for a time and came back about 13 years ago now. So, you know, I've gone from the probably the lowest of the low part time high school fill in where I was needed and, you know, I've been able to to work my way up literally from there. So it's been it's been quite, quite a journey. You know, it's a great journey. And that that happens a lot. One of the things I love about the city is we have a lot of homegrown leadership. Yeah. And I think that's one of the key things that I like to tell people is if you're willing to, you know, stay here, learn and do the work and just work hard, you really can advance to whatever it is that you want to do because it doesn't matter if you know it's public safety or, you know, something with the utility services, public works, marketing, communications, whatever it may be. We have a career for that. And I think it surprises people to know that whether you're, you know, looking for something more in the arts or event planning or something more technically driven, like information technology or technical services, there really is a career here for that. And it's it's a great way that you can really build a successful, rewarding career serving the community. So I think that's something that, you know, I wish more people were aware of the career opportunities that we have here and would pursue those. And you've worked I know you started out in the H.R. department, but you've also been involved with marketing, I think tourism Main Street, possibly, yes. So I actually my first full time job with the city was Human Resources, and I worked my way up from back then. I was personnel secretary to Human Resources. I think I was administrator manager or something like that, and then moved over because I had an interest in the marketing field. So I transferred over to tourism manager and, you know, got a lot of great experience doing that. And I like to say that, you know, when I left the city and went to work somewhere else, that was kind of like leaving for college, you know, So somewhat because I needed to go somewhere else and learn, experience, a different work environment. And I feel like that time away when I brought it back into marketing and communications, that just allowed me to have a different perspective to to really grow off of. So and the time that I've been back in, it started off with marketing communications and I've, you know, been able to, you know, get back to some of my my beginning roots by taking tourism mainstreet. You know, I oversaw human resources for a time planning. You know, there's been you know, and now being the position I'm in now, I'm able to touch all of the different areas. So I think one of the most important things that I would tell anyone in starting a career, whether it's with the city or anywhere else, is don't be afraid to accept those additional responsibilities. You know, it can be a challenge sometimes to accept roles that you may not be familiar with, and it may be something outside of your comfort zone. But every little piece of those that experience really helps mold you into a more valuable employee. And if I had not had those opportunities to take on those additional responsibilities, it would not have put me in the position where I am now to where I have that that wealth of knowledge that, you know, I may not be an expert in everything that the city does, but I'm familiar enough that, you know, I feel like I can contribute to those areas. So, you know, when people are always looking for opportunities to move ahead, I always say, you know, don't be afraid to take on additional responsibilities or to serve on those teams or to learn things outside of your comfort zone, because that's really how you grow. Yeah, we call that other duties as a So there's a lot to be said for that and having that can do attitude because there's always work to do and we always need people who are willing to step up and take that on and, you know, be responsible. And you know, we love someone that's willing to accept the challenge and, you know, especially do so without a whole lot of direction and, you know, not afraid to get in there and figure it out. So all of that makes you an invaluable employee. And that's why I'm actually here today. Right. You know, you love this kind of thing, actually is a doer. And, you know, a lot of times people and you know, a lot of people in this organization, they do so much, it's hard to get them here. It's hard to get Sheryl here and Ashley here. So you guys do a lot. But Ashley tell us your your journey here in the city of Thomasville and talk about that. Okay. My journey may not be as exciting as Sheryl's because I started in 2012. I remember it was April 30th, the first day of audit in the Financial Services Department as just the entry level position financial accountant. I worked my way up over the years. Position became available for the senior accountant. Eventually the Chief financial officer position came available and so I've been doing that for almost six years. I took on more responsibilities like Sheryl touched on and I started to oversee the services, and I'm also expanding that more recently to customer service and I.T. And so as Cheryl touched down and learning new things can be scary, it may not be and you know, in my wheelhouse, but I am excited and encouraged to to learn more new things about the city. So and I feel honored that she selected me to to to expand those responsibilities and to, you know, put those departments under my care and under my management. So I appreciate this is a fun fact that I actually sat in on Ashley's initial interview with the City and she did. So what about before you you joined the city of Thomasville. What what were you doing prior to your work with the city of Thomasville? So most of my accounting experience is here with the city. But prior to joining the city, I worked at a CPA firm. And so I had more public, more private sector experience and I just dealt with taxes and bookkeeping and sales tax and corporate returns and things like that. So a lot different than what I'm doing now. We did have some work with auditing and auditing governmental and schools and nonprofits, but nowhere near the extensive work that I do now. So it was very different joining this group and organization with the city. But my accounting background has been, you know, what I relied on the most here. Did you have aspirations to be a chief financial officer? Was that, you know, one of your goals you set out for yourself, or did you you know, is that something that you've assumed that role? Because you definitely have the experience and you've shown the leadership for it. But I just wondered, is when you have a finance background, is that something that you're that you have a goal to be? I think years ago when I got that degree, I knew this is what I wanted to do. But there's so many areas that you can focus on. So I wasn't sure what my focus would be on. But when I came to the city, all I knew and I still have this mindset is that I just want to soak up as much information as I could. I just want to learn as much as I could. And so I was given the opportunity to do that here. One thing I love about the city is that any time I want to add training or additional certifications or anything to learn anything, I was given that opportunity to do so. And so it just helped build what I know and I was able to use that in my day to day. Yeah. So when we think about taking on roles and things, one of the things to that that the city has had is just some some great leadership. Sheryl as assistant city manager, you've had a lot of great mentors, you know, some some male, some female. Yes. But talk about some of those female leaders that you've had in honor of women's Month. Well, I think the the probably one of the most important mentors I ever had was Kay McDonald, who saw something and a little 18 year old Sheryl and hired me for my first full time job with the city. And, you know, at the time, I don't know that I would have said, okay, you know, you're my mentor. But, you know, looking over, I can remember very distinctly it was after I'd left the city, I texted her one day and told her, you know, looking back, you are probably one of the people who's had the biggest influences on my life outside of my family. And I am so appreciative for everything that you taught me and poured into me, even though at the time, you know, I may not have realized that I was learning. I mean, she taught me so much and, you know, taught me what it was like to be a strong woman in leadership because, you know, Kay had to come up through the ranks at a time when it was not as common for women to be in those positions and for for people that don't know. Kay was our former she was she was our human resources director one time and then assistant city manager and then interim city manager for. So she literally went through all the ranks and, you know, at a time she, you know, in her background was corporate finance banking h.r. And she knew what it was like to to be a woman trying to make it in a world that maybe was not traditionally filled with female leaders. So she she definitely set a great example for me. I learned a great deal from her. And then Lynn Williams, who is a former assistant city manager here as well. When I came back to work with the city in 2011, Lynn was who I worked under and again, just learned so much from her. And it's interesting because, you know, having worked under both of them who had such great careers with the city and my career having started so, so far back with a little bit of that break and then coming back now, you know, it's given me the unique perspective of having that tied to the past, that history that is important when you you know, when you start thinking about why certain decisions were made or why we've done things the way we're doing them, that's not to say that we always want to do them that way, but you have to understand why you're operating the way you are before you just start making changes. You know, what we did then may not make sense now, but it is important to respect and understand the history of the organization, and I'm very thankful that I've had both of them to to mentor me and to to share that knowledge and experience with me. It's interesting because I can remember the first time someone that reported to me referred to me as their mentor, and I'm like immediately look in behind me, like me, you know, I'm your mentor. I mean, you know, it, you know, it took me a little bit by surprise, but really, you have to understand that any time you've got someone that if you're leading a department or a project or whatnot, you've got people watching you and they're looking up to you. And, you know, that's that's an and I remember feeling the weight of that responsibility that I had. You know, I thought I was just out here doing me living my life. And it it really just took me by surprise that people were watching me for, you know, not just leadership in the in the job, but leadership in their growth and their their career. And I felt, you know, very honored that someone would want to consider me a mentor. And to be honest, I felt a little unworthy of that title. But it's something that I've tried to be very conscious of because I think it is very strong. It's very important in any organization for strong female leaders to also show how you lead, you know, imbalanced family obligations and, you know, your commitment to your organization and your commitment to your community. And I think that's something that, you know, women can have a unique perspective of. Yeah, what about you, Ashley? Is there someone that served as a mentor role in your life and maybe something that you learned from them and that you try to pass along to your staff? I would have to say Kay McDonnell was was key. And also Cheryl Sealy, they both have a way of doing their job and making it look very easy. So I've always admired that. You know, they've never I've never seen them not be all together and calm and collected. And there was chaos in many instances. And yet they were always they always kept it together. So I've always admired that about both Cheryl and Kay, and they always did it very fashionably. You know, they look great doing it. So. Wow. Yeah. So I've always looked up to that. But again, I think it takes a lot to be able to to go through certain things that we do and make the decisions that we make and still do it with a sense of professionalism and just, you know, calmness. So I've always looked up to that and I have to to have to honestly return the compliment that, you know, you know, I like I said, I sat in on Ashley's first interview and to see the growth that she has, you know, experienced in her career. And I can remember when she moved out into the CFO position and, you know, you know, I have a habit of feeling, you know, nervousness with more words. And, you know, I think that it's just very admirable that Ashley is able to just very calmly speak what she needs to say and convey that information. And it you know, it again, it feels very effortless when you do it as well. So that's why we make a great team. That's great. That's great. Well, now now let's get to the real hard question of women in Leadership Month, and that is when your wife asks you to go to a restaurant and she says, you know, you want to go to a restaurant, like we never we never take this. You never take our suggestions. So how does that go on? Tell me about that hard hitting question. Yeah. And to keep you on your toes, we got to keep that. That's true. We like to maintain the mystery and keep there you go, reaching out what's going on. But I will give you a little bit of a tip. Sometimes it might help just to, like, give a choice of three are ask her for a choice of three. You know, that way it kind of it kind of it cuts down on the you know I don't know. Anything's fine. No, not that. That's right. Relationship advice as well. These ladies can do it all right. One of the things so maybe a silly question, but, you know, some people think it's very glamorous to be in a leadership role and that it's all fun. And you get to do maybe do what you want to do. Maybe you want to leave early. You know, during the week you're a leader and you're a supervisor and you can do those types of things possibly. But, you know, sometimes it's not fun being in a leadership role. So do either of you have any, you know, instances that you could share maybe of a situation where it just wasn't fun and you didn't enjoy that part of your job, but, you know, you had to do it? I would say one of the worst things that you have to do that is not fun is whenever you you have an employment issue that you have to handle people. Because I think, you know, at the heart of it, we care about people, you know, whether the position they're in is a good fit or not. I've heard someone in our police department say, you know, give someone the opportunity to be successful somewhere else, you know, and that's a great way to put it, because sometimes, you know, and I've seen it where someone maybe is not successful in one area and then, you know, they make a change or, you know, you make a change for them and then you see them really blossom and grow in that other area. That's probably the hardest because you care about them. You know, we're a family here. I maintain Thomasville is a real concept and you don't want to make those tough decisions. You know, I would say on the other side of it, I've worked events where I'm picking up trash off the brick streets after a Victorian Christmas got in a whole lot of fun. And it's not fun working late nights, so with blisters on your feet. But you know, that's what we do because we love the community. So that's probably what I would say. Yeah, actually you can't imagine being interviewed that can't you do it? You do it well. Well, there's a lot of difficulties being a leader, and that's just part of it. And it's really neat to see you guys take on these difficult roles with the grace that you guys do. Tell me about just actually talking about leadership. What are some good qualities you got to be? You've got to be tough and fair. There's a lot of things you got to balance together. So tell me, tell me what's a good leader in your mind? Well, there are several qualities that I feel like a good leader should possess. Obviously, just communication, decision making skills. But probably most important is integrity. I feel like above all else, if your moral compass is broken, nothing else will work with leadership. No one will follow you no matter how much you communicate. But if you have that integrity, if you're honest, if you're true with yourself, I think naturally people will follow. And so without that, I think you're just a supervisor and not actually a leader. Usually if you have that integrity, if you have a moral compass, if you stand your ground, most people will follow you and you don't even have to say a thing. Yeah, so I think that's a good point. You said you know, there's a difference being a supervisor and a leader and maybe some people don't understand that or put that together thinking maybe that's one in the same. But but I think that is important. I mean, you know, you can definitely supervise people and that could just be, you know, you're over them. You're they work really important to you. But when you're actually in a role and you're actually, you know, trying to to provide leadership or advice to those working under you, instead of a good example, that's certainly totally different than than just supervising somebody. So that's that was a good point to make. What about you, Sheryl? Any inequalities you can think of that you think are or part of being a good leader? I think really taking the time to build a relationship with people is one of the is it's I don't know if that you would consider that a quality, but I think having that ability to establish a personal relationship because you know Ashley's right if you if you if people don't believe in you and trust you, they're not willing to follow you. And you can be a supervisor and tell someone what to do or you can be a leader and help them figure out where to go. And, you know, honestly, that's what's going to help you grow is if you can if you can develop those skills to spot the problem, figure out the solution and come to your supervisor, your leader, and say, I found a problem. But here's the solution that I've got for this. Tell me what you think. I mean, to me, that shows someone who that's your future leader right there. And I think the more that you can establish that relationship so that someone does feel safe coming to you because you may not get it right every time You may. You know, I've done that plenty of times where I've come to you know, kaolin, you know, back in the day and said, you know, here's here's what I think we should do. And I've been completely wrong on what we should do. But I had that kind of open dialog with them to where they could say, here's here's why we wouldn't do this. But but that, you know, you could try this instead. And it and it really helps create that that critical thinking that helps you figure out your problem on your own. And to me, that's what makes a valuable employee is whenever they they do have that ability. Yeah well fantastic interview today and just we appreciate you all and the leadership you guys show and again, the different types of leadership. I think that's the other thing that I really like about Team Thomasville. You know, Ashley's kind of quiet. Sheryl's not quiet. Both of those are okay, right? I mean, both those are great. We need both of those. And so we appreciate you guys leadership. Thank you for having me. So thank you, Ashley. And thank you, Sheryl. We appreciate you allowing us to highlight both of you during Women in Leadership and we hope everyone will stay tuned. We have part two of our podcast coming up next. Welcome back to Thomasville Insights. Again. I'm Austin and I'm here with Christy. And now we always have a special guest is this third or fourth time on our podcast, and that is Major Shane Harris. Shane is going to talk to us about a community crime prevention form. Shane, welcome. Glad you're here. Well, thank you. It's good to be here. Yeah, this is an important event for our community coming up on April the second. So, Shane, why don't you just kind of give us an overview of, of maybe the reason why the Townsville Police Department wanted to host this event and what the public can look forward to. Okay. Well, the event, the Community forum is for Tuesday, April the second, 2024. That's going to be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and it's going to be at the Thomasville Community Resource Center, which is at 501 Varnado Street. And, you know, TPD wants to bring the community awareness to the growing trend that we're having or seen of gun violence statewide and locally. It is our hope through our community collaborations in education that we can reduce or hopefully stop unnecessary violence, especially in our younger adults. It's an opportunity to engage our community in a positive setting while building trust, building those trusting relationships. I think we can all agree that Thomasville is a special community and we all want a safe and secure city where all citizens can live and prosper. Jane, let me jump in there. Talk to me about the gun violence stats. You mentioned that earlier, but off the top of your head, you don't have to get anywhere close to the specific numbers. But you know what? What were we tracking at before where we track and at now? I mean, because I've heard this a lot from the community as well. So it's just important. Like you certainly hear a lot more violence issues today. So where are we at today? Yeah, certainly after, you know, we always hear after COVID and true after COVID, we started to see an increase in gunshots. We started seeing an increase in violence among people. Maybe they had an argument. And that argument leads to somebody getting a gun and shooting and just mainly that gun violence. Gunfire. We're seeing that rise exponentially, but it's just not locally that's statewide. That's a trend that we're seeing and also nationally. So we're trying to think of what we can do to to bring those numbers down, bring awareness and educate. And that's one of the things that the city has done, is were we went out and we found the flock safety system, which is I guess there's been some controversy with that among some of our citizens, because I think they really don't truly understand what that system's about. So at this community forum, we're also going to be talking about that flock safety system and show our citizens how it's used, how it's helped the police department solve some crimes and build evidence when we go to either prosecute or try to bring a person to justice and seek some type of restitution for the victim. So do you think maybe just, you know, offering some of these statistics to the public, possibly some crime reduction tips is the hope that hopefully after hearing these things, that the community will understand maybe ways or learn ways that maybe they can, you know, if they see a crime happening, what they can do or just letting them know about, you know, the flock safety system, like you said, and how that's operating is the hope that just educating them is really going to help possibly reduce some of these numbers in our community? Well, TPD, we understand that we can't be a police force that that goes out or is able to solve crime on our own. We have to have community engagement. We can't do what we do without the community. So holding this community event is going to give us an opportunity to tell the community what we're seeing, the things that we can do to right the ship, but also what can the community do to help us. Just like you said, we see a lot of times where people will have a beef, they'll have an argument and it may go on for a month or months and then something traumatic happens and everybody looks at us and says, What did you know about it? No, we didn't know about it. But there's people in the community that know about it, and if they do know about it, they can let us know. Hopefully we can intervene. Right. So part of this community crime prevention is we're also going to talk about gun safety. We're going to talk about how how can you store your guns responsibly within your home and in your car? Because we see a lot of cars get broken into and a firearm is stolen. Well, we don't want a gun in the wrong person's hands. So and that's what a gun owner is doing. If they leave a gun in a car that's unlocked and somebody steals it, well, now who has? Because we find sometimes in these violent crimes that we investigate a gun that is stolen either locally or nearby one of our local nearby communities. That's where that gun is come from and is wound up in the wrong hands. And it is part of a heinous act. Right. So that's some of the things that we want to bring awareness people and let them know, you know, if you're going to be a gun owner, let's do it responsibly. So is the event going to be like a formal presentation? Is it a drop in type of event? What can the community look forward to? Is most they can most certainly drop in because we want people to come, whether you're there for a few minutes or you stay the whole 2 hours or if it goes over. But there will be a formal presentation that we'll do and I'll do part of it. But it's also geared towards hearing back from the community because like I said, what we want to know what's important from the community standpoint. And I can tell you what we see, but I also want to know what the community sees and what they think we should be doing, because this is a partnership. It's a collaboration between the police department and the community. Yeah, that's a that's interesting stuff. And we appreciate you talking about it. And just y'all having this forum, you guys. I mean, listening is a big part of your job. You guys, if you if you want CALEA certification, which is something you guys do, you have to hear from the community. You're always looking for community engagement. You're that your job is is is much easier. Everybody's better if there's communication. So. Talk to me about what you guys are doing this this community this crime prevention form is a part of that. But just ways you're engaging the community and just ways of like that's that's just good policing of just being I'll talk to people and hear from them, hear their concerns. Yeah. As Chief Glover has said, we are a community based police department, which means that we are tied into the community, we seek community input, even before this community or this crime prevention form. One of the ways we got the word out about the about the meeting and what we will be discussing is the police department went door to door that we call that a neighborhood or a mobile watch. It's like a neighborhood watch. But instead of the citizens come into one structure or a church or somebodies house, the officers are going to the person's house. We're going to the citizens house to talk with them, to see exactly what their issues are. And it gives us the opportunity to start building those trusting relationships where the citizen can actually meet that officer outside of any enforcement action, because that's most of what we do. Yeah, you know, and we want to get out of that light. We want to get into some more words of positive encounter and build those relationships. And, you know, that's what we're all about in this community forum is about that as well. You know, we at the police department, even the city and our citizens, like I said, I know everybody wants a community where there feel like there's free of crime, where you can prosper and you don't have to worry about what's happening, you know, and and the only way you can we can do that is to build those relationships with that with our community. And we do events throughout the year, whether it's a faith and blue weekend, an egg extravaganza shop with a cop. We're always trying to engage that community so that we know each other. You know, if you know somebody, it's a lot easier to trust them than if you didn't. So that's what we're all about. So another mobile watch that you mentioned that happened earlier this month. And as you said, police department went door to door and visited with a lot of different folks. And I know you handed out some of the fliers about the community Crime Prevention Forum. That's coming up. But if someone has other questions, maybe about the event is our phone number they can call or how could could they get more information if they have a couple of questions? Absolutely. They can call my office at 2292277076 or they can send me an email at Shane situation E dot Harris or s Thomasville dot org and I'll be glad to answer any questions. All right. Well, Shane, we appreciate you again. That's the Community Crime Prevention Forum, and that's going to be Tuesday, April 2nd, Tuesday, April 2nd, starting at 6 p.m. at the Townsville Community Resource Center next to the baseball stadium. For those who may be wondering where that is, a great place to have that and host that. Shane, we appreciate you. We appreciate the TPD. We're we have a lot of pride in what you guys do and the kind of officers and people you are and how you represent yourselves so well to the community. And I appreciate y'all doing these kind of engagements, you know, just just winning the hearts and minds one person at a time. And you guys are doing a great job. Well, I appreciate it. Yeah. Before we close out today, I want to remind everyone that our road show and festival is coming up April 26 and 27th. This is probably the largest event that the city of Thomasville hosts. Every year we expect about 40,000 people in town for this two day event. So mark your calendars for that. And like we've already mentioned, the Crime Prevention Forum is going to be April the second from 6 to 8 p.m.. We appreciate Shane for joining us today. I also appreciate talking to Ashley and Sheryl on this episode and we want to thank everyone for joining us and remind you to subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss an episode. You've been listening to Thomasville Insights with the City of Thomasville. The show is produced by the City of Thomasville Marketing Department. The show's music is by Pond five dot com. To learn more about the City of Thomasville, visit Thomasville dot org or follow us on social media. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening app so you don't miss an episode. Thanks for listening.