Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Rouse Review. I'm your city manager, Dan Hoffman, and with me as the Public Information Officer Sarah Fry. Hi, Dan. Hi everybody. Hello everybody. Um, all right. Summer's here. June pretty much is here. We do have, uh, some work to do even though it's getting a little quiet, people starting to head out for their vacations. Uh, we still have city council meetings going on, uh, but we are getting to that stage of the, of the year when, uh, things calm down a little bit. Council goes on their recess in July. Uh, and, you know, we've got a lot going on for sure, especially when you talk about events and activities and things going on, the walking mall, things going on at the park. Definitely a lot of stuff your city staff are, are working diligently of course, but, uh, summer, just like everybody. Summer is a, uh, a good time to spend a little time with family, relax and recharge. So, uh, we'll be doing a little bit of that over the course of the summer too. Um, but. Before that, we do have still some council meetings to, to tackle, uh, tomorrow night, particularly at council. Uh, we have zero public hearings as opposed to 10 that we had last week za two weeks ago, I guess. Yep. Very happy to not, I'm sure Council President Sullivan also is happy not to open and close 10 public hearings. Um, we do have a few odds and ends though on the, uh, on the agenda. To be aware of, first off, the final step. This is kind of the final zoning change required to implement the Cedar Valley Neighborhood Design District, uh, which some of you guys might still refer to as Wards Plaza. Uh, so Cedar Valley, that neighborhood, that new neighborhood in the city, uh, will get its new zoning designation in, let's see. It'll be first reading tomorrow night, and then, uh, second reading at the. Next meeting in June. Ooh, that's right. Um, so few other little lot. It's some other stuff too on the agenda. Uh, the thing that'll probably generate more discussion than anything is the loop route discussion. Uh, we need to shift some resources. Resources, I mean, buses over to win, ready to get our wait times down. Ridership is declining in the loop route, so we have made some changes. Uh, since council looked at this and gave it a thumbs up in February, we've got some feedback from the community. We are going to offer a compromise to city council tomorrow night. We're just going to modify the service in the loop route rather than eliminate entirely. I. Uh, and the rate for the loop route will now be the same as the win ready, so both will be a dollar 50. Uh, and with that, that's really probably the biggest stuff on the agenda tomorrow night. We do have a couple of, you know, kind of administrative financial items related to transit. We do have some, uh, some right of way vacations, uh, to process that. You really don't apply to 99% of the population. So, uh, it, it is a good meeting if you just wanna stop in and see the process at work. Uh, otherwise feel free to check it out online. Let's take a quick break. And now, uh, we, we do, like I said, have a ton of stuff going on this summer. We do have another holiday coming up, Juneteenth, so, uh, stick around. Sarah's gonna go through all of the different stuff that's coming up, summer's in the air. You can feel it. It's so great. And that means so much is happening. So first and foremost. City offices and the Park Rec Center are both gonna be closed on Thursday, June 19th to celebrate Juneteenth. That also means that Thursday's trash is gonna get collected a day early on Wednesday the 18th, and there won't be any yard waste that week. But speaking of Juneteenth, there are two fantastic Juneteenth events coming up later this month. The first one is the NAACP is hosting a Juneteenth celebration from noon to six on June 15th, this upcoming Sunday at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. And then our friends at Hood Love are hosting a Juneteenth event from one until eight on June 21st on the Old Town Walking Mall. Please come out, celebrate, learn. It's gonna be a great time. Next up, our trash schedules are changing. If you listen to this podcast, you already know that if you follow us on social media, you already know that. If you get our Wing Connect emails, you already know that. If you just exist in the city, hopefully you already know it. If you know it and somebody you are talking to doesn't know it, please tell them about it. Um, starting this week, we're even gonna be putting hangers on everybody's door about this change. Everybody should know about it. But starting Monday, July 7th. Your trash is gonna get picked up determined by your voting ward. So if you are in Ward one, you'll be collected on Monday for both trash and recycling. Ward two will be Tuesday for trash and recycling. Ward three on Wednesday and Ward four on Thursday. Then everybody's yard waste will get picked up on Fridays. If there's a holiday thrown in there, everybody just slides back a day. It's amazing. It's easy, it's simple. It's going to be fantastic. Alright. Now that we've talked through trash, it's almost the 4th of July, Americana at its purest. You can smell the hot dogs on the grill. It's amazing. And the most important thing is the city is celebrating with fireworks on Thursday, July 3rd, not the fourth, the day before the third at Jim Burnett Park. Fireworks will get set off around when it gets dark. Nine 20 ish or so come out, have a great time. There's gonna be stuff happening for the families beforehand. The pool's gonna be popping all day. Come hang out at Jim Barnett, celebrate America's birthday. It's gonna be a great time. All right, coming up next, we're gonna be talking to our new fire and Rescue police, chief Drew Savage welcome for his first time, probably not his last time on the show. Definitely not his last time'cause he's brand new. He's Chief Drew Savage. Welcome chief. Thank you. Happy to be here. You can tell he's so happy to be here. He is very stoic, uh, chief Savage, uh, although we we're having his c his swearing in ceremony today. You've actually been around for like a month now, right? Yes, this is my fifth week. Fifth week. Ooh, fifth week on the job. Got here just in time for Apple Blossom. Yes. Got to ride in a, in the parade. So it's definitely all downhill from here. Uh, what are, um, so for those of you who haven't seen, you know, there's a nice article in the paper. Um, you know, we've kind of introduced you to the public in little ways here and there, but, uh, for those of you who have not, um, for those who have not met you yet, uh, tell us a little bit about how you found Winchester. Well, um, I. As far as my exposure to firefighting, which sort of led the path here I am a Virginia native, grew up on the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia. Started out as a volunteer. I. Then that sort of planted the seed for public service. Got away from that for a bit. Um, went away to college at Old Dominion, go Monarchs, um, after college. Landed in Northern Virginia, did some time in the, in the private sector. Um, was supporting an FBI contract there, just doing project management and training. And then from there. When my daughter was born, we moved to the Tidewater area, living in Virginia Beach and working for Norfolk Fire Rescue. So that was, um, my full-time exposure to the fire service. After being away for some time, I did a 20 year career there. Moved up through the ranks, wore a lot of different hats, had a lot of good opportunities to work on a variety of projects, different roles and responsibilities. I had reached a point where, um, I was reaching the retirement eligibility within that system and my daughter graduated from Virginia Tech, the hokey about a year ago. This time she's now in the Northern Virginia area, living and working. My wife and I were empty nesters and we'd started thinking about our next chapter and new opportunities and. She can work pretty much anywhere in Virginia, had visited Winchester about a year and a half ago and randomly came home and said, wow, I really could live in Winchester. There you go. So it's Mrs. Savage that we have to thank for this. So when the opportunity for the fire and Rescue chief opened up, uh, it was immediate support from her. Um, I was intrigued by the opportunity and the system here just with. You know, a different model than what I was used to coming from a fully career department and region. And then as the process progressed, I was really taken by everyone that I met here, um, by the leadership, by the process that was put together and the exposure to the city. And it just felt like a good fit. And my wife never looked back and everything fell into place and we're excited to be here and looking forward to all the, the new challenges that, that will come with the position. Mm. Happy wife ha, happy life. Mm-hmm. So, and you know, it, it is one of those cities that, uh, you know, if you take a minute, get to know it, you know, if you just kind of judge it by, you know, some of the. You know, kind of more industrial parts of town, or, uh, if, if you look very myopically at certain parts of town, uh, you miss out on stuff like the Walkin Mall lot and a lot of the little businesses that are away from the Walkin mall too, you know? Oh yeah. You'll find eventually you'll find your favorite, you know, noodle spots. Uh, you know, the, your favorite gas station that has the massive beer selection, you know, there, there's the, uh. The, yeah, there, there's definitely a lot to, uh, for folks to fall in love with, even, especially this time of year. Yes. So if, uh, if your wife was, was she here during Apple Blossom too? She was. She, she came with me and it was, it was a great exposure to the city. Excellent. Excellent. So, um, tell us a little bit about, you know, your approach. You're, you're coming in to a fire department in a, a small town that's, you know, pretty, uh. Oh, it's got small town vibes, right? It's a, it's a fire department that, you know, everybody kind of knows every, uh, each other. Uh, a lot of folks have come up through the department. You know, the, the chief that just retired Chief Heel, you know, he came up through the department. You've got an assistant chief that's come up through the department. You've got a lot of, um. But a fire department that's really kind of been on the upswing for, for a little while now, how do you, what's your approach to leading a department like that? Right, and so I think the model I've been following to this point is really just making introductions and, and learning. You know, definitely it is a different model than, than where I left just in the makeup of the department and the size, but. A lot of the challenges facing the fire service in general are the same across the country. Um, but coming here and especially as, you know, an outsider to, you know, many of my, my peers, I've been putting in a lot of effort just getting around, meeting, meeting the crews, visiting each station, doing as much as I can to meet all the, the different stakeholders that that interact with. With the department and learn how the interactions have been up to this point. Um, I will say that a lot of the things that I've noticed that were already in place, as you mentioned, really do see an upswing. There are things that have been very refreshing both operationally and procedurally that. I'll be honest, were things that we had been working on in my prior department that hadn't really taken root yet. So I think there is a very solid foundation, um, to continue building on. But the fire service is always changing, so I think there's gonna have to be that innovative approach and just looking at potentially new ways of, of still tackling those existing problems. Um, but for now it really has just been. Relationship building, learning as much as I can about the department, about the city, about those interactions. And then once I feel that, you know, I have that good informational and relationship foundation, we'll then start working on formulating a plan to, to move forward. Yeah. Talk about recruiting and retaining. And right now we have, uh. I think we've got a couple of vacancies, but we're not set too bad off, or we we're not a fully staffed. Right. We're technically a position or two short or currently yes. A couple positions, short, couple positions, vacants. So, uh, not that we have a, you know, a large number of vacancies. It's not like we're, uh, people are leaving in droves. Uh, so we've got some good continuity right now. How do we, um, but how do we stay ahead of that? How do we stay ahead of recruiting and retaining folks, uh, so we don't fall behind? And that's one of the challenges just with, with many, um, professions, but the fire service in particular, the recruitment and retention piece, that's gonna be an ongoing going challenge, especially, you know, with the workforce. Um, I think that one of the biggest, uh, components of that, because, you know, financial compensation is gonna be different no matter where you go, but I think one of the areas that are our strong points is something that. That you emphasize regularly is having that culture here where job satisfaction and employee performance is high, and I think in the fire service that translates to having. Training opportunities that are both engaging and challenging, having opportunities for people to be heard with good ideas and innovations that may be add potential and improvement to the department. Having that pathway and that open communication up and down the chain. Um, I think that with the interaction and support that I've seen here with you, the volunteer leadership, there is a big collaboration there that also helps with that. Um, positive environment that's going to affect the day-to-day work experience of people that are here with Winchester Fire Rescue. Um, and I think that just having that understanding of how the fire service is going to be in flux for the foreseeable future. So knowing that. The city, knowing that the department are preparing for innovations and change and not being stagnant, I think that's gonna make for an exciting work culture here. And then also making sure that we're, we're focusing on that job performance and satisfaction piece as well, as well as the health and safety of our members. And I think. There is a solid foundation here from just being out there and meeting everyone. Morale seems high. Um, there seems to be a appetite for the training aspects of things. It's been very refreshing to see just the customer service emphasis that's already here in the department and the community engagement, and I think that that, um, goes a long way for. The employee satisfaction as well. Being able in a city of this size to have that direct contact and see, you know, the fruits of your labors when it isn't someone's worst day, um, pays benefits as well. So, so one last question. I. And this is kind of a philosophical question, I guess. So we partner closely with, uh, Winchester Public Schools over at the Innovation Center for the Firefighter Academy over there, firefighter and EMT Academy. Why should a, you know, with, with all the different change in evolution of the fire service, why should a high school kid be thinking about becoming a firefighter or an EMT? Right? I think one of the biggest benefits of that program is just the exposure to the profession. I think anyone you talk to that has done the job, whether as a career or for a portion of their career, you'll hear it thrown around often that it is one of the best professions that are out there. And I think that comes one because on the EMS side, you have the academic challenges, but you also have the physical. Challenges of the firefighting side. So it is a good blend of those two areas if you know, if that's what you're, you're looking for. But I think one of the, the biggest benefits is just the fact that you do have that opportunity through the public service aspect to truly touch people's lives, whether it be helping them on that emergency scene or through the community outreach, um, components that are there. Mm-hmm. But that program and having attended, you know, the. The event recently that was celebrating their accomplishments. Mm-hmm. It's extremely valuable in just the exposure. Um, the skills that, that they're picking up there are going to, are one, gonna create a good foundation if they do choose this as a profession, but as in my case, it may also just plant that seed as they move forward in their life and their career. And, and it may open doors down the road. To public safety or something else that is, is service related for anyone that's considering, you know, a career just as a firefighter, they are so closely related. One of the, the biggest things I've always recommended is if you're able to pursue the EMT side of thing, it does make you highly marketable and it makes you see that side of the profession as well, which a lot of times can be challenging and unexpected if, if folks have not really understood that prior to their first exposure. Um, but I think that that program, one of the, the biggest benefits is just understanding what the job is all about before you're truly put in that, that search position of Yeah. Of trying to choose a profession. Yeah. We, we will spend tens of thousands of dollars, uh, training you up, getting you ready to be a firefighter. Um, we would love for you to have a more solid understanding of the job before we spend that kind of time and money. Uh, to get you all ready because it, it is a blow when you know, whether it's in police or fireside. Someone comes in, they do the job for a couple of years, they realize that, you know, it's too stressful or the schedule's not right, or, um, it's just not fulfilling them for whatever reason. And. It's better for us, definitely better for us and the taxpayers to know ahead of time, uh, before we spend all the time training you up. But it is a very worthwhile thing to do. I mean, when I see guys, uh, my age retiring and with full pensions, it's, it, it is a little, get a little jealous. I ain't gonna lie. Yep. Okay. So if anyone wants to find out more about the Winchester Fire and Rescue Department, uh, obviously they should go to, they can go to Winchester va.gov. Uh, so if anybody had any questions about Winchester Fire Department that they couldn't find on the website, Winchester va.gov, for those interested, uh, who should they call? Yep. So our main administrative number there at our office is gonna be the best point of contact. They'll be able to get any information they have about any of the programs or services that the department, um, offers. It also will be the, uh, best place to start for any specific questions they may have or, uh, any questions that may need to come to my attention. And that number is 5 4 0. Six, six. Two. 2, 2, 9, 8. Excellent. Thank you very much, chief. Welcome to Winchester. Great, thank you. Happy to be here. Thanks for listening to another edition of the RA review. It is really, uh, it is really nice, uh, to see that, you know, we get a, enough folks listening to this. Uh, to make it, to make it worth the time. Think about 80 to a hundred people on a good, good episode. Uh, sometimes some topics are a little more popular than others, but mm-hmm. We, uh. For considering that we don't get an 80 to a hundred people show up at council meetings, uh, thank goodness that room is not big enough for 80 to 100 people. It is not. It, it would be very packed in there case. Not that we wouldn't love to see you there, but, but it is a, um, it is nice to know that folks are, are taking advantage of getting news directly from the source rather than. The various social medias out there. Uh, so we will be taking a break until the first meeting in August. So the next uh, edition of this podcast will be the Monday before. Our first August City Council meeting. Uh, so until then, keep an eye out on the website, Winchester vida gov for all the events and information about what's happening around the city. Uh, and until then, have a great summer and we'll see you around City Hall.