City of Marietta Leadership Class Course 3 Project Presentations - June 9, 2026
City of Marietta Leadership Class Course 3 Project Presentations - June 9, 2026
On June 9, 2026, participants in the City of Marietta leadership class presented their Course 3 process improvement projects to fellow class members and city staff. The session featured 14 presentations covering a wide range of departmental initiatives aimed at improving efficiency, safety, customer service, and workplace environment. The projects demonstrated creative problem-solving and cross-departmental collaboration.
Project Presentations
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Operation Lower Yard Brickyard Cleanup (Gerard Bush, Public Works): Proposed cleaning and organizing the lower brickyard, which has become a dumping ground and a breeding ground for snakes and rodents. The creek behind the yard is eroding, now only 4–5 feet from the yard. Budget is under $1,000, mainly for plastic pallets. Multiple departments (environmental services, traffic, transportation, street) will be involved.
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HP Latex 730 Printer and CWT Project Table (David Ledoux, Traffic Services): Requested a new printer and air-compressive table to fabricate traffic signs in-house, improving accuracy and reflectivity. Cost estimate: $53,830, including five-year warranty and Flexi software. Current equipment is nearly obsolete. Visited Cobb County for benchmarking.
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Instructional Videos for Homeowner Building Permits (Melanie Olivares, SPLOST Budget Analyst & Jeffrey Duckett, Deputy Director of Public Works): Created step-by-step videos to help citizens apply for permits online via the Sage’s portal, reducing lengthy phone calls. Videos will be available on the website and YouTube, and in Spanish (Melanie is fluent). Aimed at improving customer service and freeing permit technicians for other tasks.
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Break Room Renovation (Ladonna Collins, Employment Manager & Chuck Carter, Facilities Maintenance Manager): Renovated the HR break room to create an inviting space. Upgraded lighting, paint, flooring (luxury vinyl tile), new appliances. Employee survey helped choose paint color. 62% of workers in a Slack survey said a better break room improves work-life balance. Project funded and completed with no additional cost to participants.
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Marietta Power Distribution Bathroom and Break Room Update (Barry Billard, Marietta Power): Ongoing project to upgrade the neglected distribution bathroom (new sink installed at $10,000) and break room (total estimated $300,000). Funding is phased over three years. The presentation showed ChatGPT renderings of the desired outcome.
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Active Threat and Stop the Bleed Training (Ben Nixon & Captain Richard Franklin, Fire/Marshal’s Office): Combined presentation on preparedness for active shooter and medical emergencies. Introduced mental scripting, denial/deliberation phases, and decisive movement. Stop the Bleed program teaches pressure dressings, wound packing, tourniquets. Noted that 1,000 people per day die from bleeding emergencies that could be stopped by a trained bystander. Plan to offer training to all city employees.
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Council Office Improvement Project (Camry Smith, City Clerk’s Office): Updated council office with new lighting, ceiling panel repair, new furniture, and snack/coffee station. Funded through supervisor support and additional budget. Emphasized challenge of stepping out of comfort zone and collaborating with multiple departments.
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Pallet Recycling Program (Nick Sawyer, Marietta Power): Proposed recycling/reusing wooden pallets instead of disposing them. Disposal costs $2,600–$3,900 per year. Solutions include donation to schools, fire department, community gardens; reselling; using for city projects. Estimated savings of ~$3,000 annually.
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Property Tax Payment Drop Box (Tamara Ridgway, Tax Manager): Proposed a 24/7 drop box on the city hall parking deck for property tax payments, complementing the existing online payment option. Benefits include convenience, contactless option, faster collection, reduced staff workload, and fewer late payments. Located opposite the utilities drop box to maintain traffic flow.
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Thermal Imaging Cameras for Fire Training (Lt. Bobby Anderson, Fire Department): Secured funding (from SPLOST) for five new FLIR thermal imaging cameras – two for training division, three for frontline equipment. Old cameras had dead batteries after 5 minutes and lacked video capability. New cameras ($4,500 each) allow photo/video recording and could stream live to smartphones. Will improve recruit evaluation and search-and-rescue training.
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Increasing Collaboration in Development Services (Kelsey Thompson White, Community Development Manager): Implemented cross-training and monthly manager meetings among code enforcement, planning and zoning, and community development. Improved referral process for housing rehabilitation program: code enforcement now sends flyers and monthly lists of violations. No financial cost, only staff time.
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Cross-Training for Water Department (Chris & Kevin, Marietta Water): Emphasized need for cross-training employees across water, sewer, and meter divisions due to retirements and turnover. Training occurs during bad weather or large emergencies. All training is in-house, no cost. Goal: maintain 100% customer satisfaction.
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IT Service Desk Standard Operating Procedure (Brian Holland, Network Services Manager & Aaron Sacco, Service Desk Manager): Developed formal escalation and SOP for the IT service desk to reduce friction between tier 1 and tier 2/3 teams. Created video training modules using existing phishing training platform (no additional cost). Improved ticket documentation, faster resolution, and lower stress. Process already showing results.
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Traffic Court Diversion Program (Andrea Nicholson, Deputy Court Administrator): Created a diversion program for minor traffic offenses using Sages.gov. Eligible offenders can pay $200 fee, complete education (defensive driving, community service), and avoid conviction/points. Expects to educate drivers, reduce court workload, and improve road safety. No additional funding required – uses existing system.
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Office Organization Project (Administrative Specialist, City Clerk’s Office): Reorganized supply cabinets, agenda workroom, kitchen, city council closet, and a vacant office. Replaced cardboard boxes with labeled plastic bins, created supply spreadsheets, and removed unused equipment. Improved efficiency and stewardship of resources. Ongoing maintenance.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes or binding decisions were taken; the presentations were the culmination of the leadership class.
- Class members were reminded to submit final written reports (work doc attachments) by the last day.
- The class will conclude with a regulation day event on June 9, 2026, scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 11:00 a.m., followed by a gathering at The Strand.
- Several projects (e.g., break room, council office) are already complete; others are in progress with phased funding or awaiting implementation.
- The class instructor provided tips on public speaking and presentation techniques (e.g., microphone use, slide visibility).
Meeting Transcript
Um shouldn't fell last time. So he's not, I just saw how you would be here to hang on last night. So I even had signed in the past and territory. I waited. The only thing we're doing today is this. And so we might as well have all that. Everybody said good morning, everybody. Well, first of all, I'm gonna introduce the director of public works. My boss, Mr. Mark Rice is in attendance. Appreciate you for coming. So uh by the way, my name is Gerard Bush. I've been had the privilege of working for the city for 25 years. You know, it's been during the time, had some challenges and you know, some successes, but I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to continue to improve the city while I'm here. The name of my project is Operation Lower Yard Brickyard Cleanup. So the purpose of this project is to clean up the lower yard, the lower brickyard and organize, because you know, we had over the years we had it seemed to be like a dumping ground for different departments they come there, contractors come and dump and you know dump their stuff and well I'm gonna show you right. So basically, this is our lower yard, so we have all departments that's dumping right here, and as we go further, environmental services, Scott Reese, he's the supervisor over there, he will be involved. We have Mr. David Ledoux, traffic supervisor, he will be involved. Mr. Richard Stokes, transportation will be involved, and of course, of course, the street department. So as we move forward, as you can get, then as the picture you can see is a creek that runs right behind our brickyard. And 15, 20 years ago, I'm behind that fence. I will be able to drive a bush off a tractor back there and cut all of that. But now, since it's trees that fell in the creek and it's making a whirlpool, it's starting to wash out. And it's actually about I would say about four or five feet from the brickyard. So I'm gonna have to, you know, straighten out the creek and do all that stuff, but as a closer shot out shot uh picture of it. And as you can see, we see uh that's me and Mr. Richards. We out there brainstorming, getting the plan together. And as you can see right here too, you see the trees and and you can see all those brick, that's a that's a cut-up bricks and all different kind of debris just throw down there, and it's becoming a breeding ground for snakes, rodents, and other other kind of wildlife that we have down there that we're trying to get rid of. So we we even have some Marietta power truck that parked on our yard down there. So right behind those Marietta power trucks, I actually have started cleaning behind it, so you can see almost to the creek. I have started, you know, my project cleaning and everything. Right here, and as I clean that, this is actually bricks and stones that's up under all those trees and stuff that was buried for 25 plus years. So the purpose of it really is you know to sort organize, repaletize the bricks, get rid of the bricks that we don't need and won't use, and actually we're wanting uh to use plastic pallets instead of the wooden ones, because it seemed like the plastic ones have more durability and they last longer. So and then also the budget I'm guessing is really under like a thousand dollars, just because we really just need plastic pallets and manpower. So then you know, uh the effort is to you know, just to clean up, organize, because I feel organization plays a major role in work. So, but basically that's if you have any questions, that's my presentation. Thanks. Yes, sir. I one of the things we talked about in terms of when you do presentations and understand the setting that you're gonna be in. This room has an echo. I mean the ceiling is high, it's spread out, and so just as we go on, be cognizant of that, especially if you turn at something and your voice is projecting that way. It's not projecting that way. I think this is a challenging room. I can't just present standing this way. I realize it's set up to present from present to the house. And so that's just that's an adaptation I think is important to understand because you're gonna be in a bunches of different kinds of rooms, and some of them will be acoustically set up to handle your voice much better than others. And just again, thank you for coming first.
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