Hi, Sam.

I have seen you around - you look like your enjoying your new challenge!

I knew you would be a good Commissioner - and this memo is a great example.

It's up front, direct and very rare. We don't see this type of "top-down" communication very often, and when we do it rarely comes off as sincere. In this case it does. Though I won't be calling your personal cell number!

In your quest for improving the way the City works (with the goal of serving our citizens better), please don't forget about the workplace culture. Overall, it's not very positive, in my opinion. I am in many bureaus, and I hear and see a lot.

I can't tell you how many employees and managers I have seen over the past years who came to the City bursting with energy, enthusiasm and ideas. Because of the culture, they get beat down into minimally performing bureaucrats, usually in a matter of months.

Our employees cost the City more than anything else, right? We have huge reserves of talent that could lead to better ideas and the kind of cooperation that you and the Mayor talk about. But, when apathy prevails, the citizens get very little return on their investment.

I believe that morale is, in general, far lower than it should be. People who work for the City need to perceive that the culture is changing for the better.

If I had all of the answers, I might be sitting in your chair! But, I don't.

I do know, however, that HR is a big part of the problem. Check into the number of cases pending arbitration by employees who believe they have been dealt with unfairly, or other disciplinary issues. Talk to managers who can't get positions, promotions and transfers approved. I've heard it described as "beating my head against the wall".

Thanks for letting me put in my two cents-worth. I still care about things that others have abandoned - like integrity and valuing our people. Really valuing them - not just lip service. That's how you maximize the return on that huge investment.

No need to respond - but if you would consider the points I have made that would be enough.