When I came to Rawlins, we issued a survey to the community to understand how residents felt we were doing as a city. One of the questions was, “Thinking back over the past 12 months, would you say the City of Rawlins is headed in the right or wrong direction?” 27% responded “Right Direction”, 57% responded “Unsure”, and 16% responded, “Wrong Direction”.

I was very concerned with the results. We set to work by establishing the City’s first ever Strategic Plan and began working on our deficiencies.

One year later we sent the same survey out and asked citizens again, “Thinking back over the past 12 months, would you say the City of Rawlins is headed in the right or wrong direction?” 46% responded, “Right Direction”, 38% responded “Unsure”, and “15% responded “Wrong Direction”.

A 19% increase in residents believing we are going in the right direction, after one year, is phenomenal. It is unheard of. In addition, nearly every department saw marked improvements.

I am proud of those results, and I am proud of what we have accomplished. I am proud that we held ourselves accountable to the community.

Looking back on the past couple years I am especially proud of the warm employee culture, a culture of trust, that has been established at the City of Rawlins. There were so many personnel issues two years ago and now the issues are significantly fewer, and far less severe. We went from 25 vacancies to being nearly fully staffed. I am proud that we have increased the number of applicants that apply for City positions by approximately 3 times what was previously applied for. People want to work for the City of Rawlins.

I am extremely proud of the amazing employees that work at the city. We have incredibly talented, caring, dedicated employees. They are what make us tick, they are where the rubber meets the road. Our employees, both individuals and teams, have received many local, state, and even national recognitions, which shows just how great they are.

Our department head team is second to none. They are phenomenal people, and they care deeply about this community. They frequently put in extensive hours that often go unnoticed to our residents. They do it because they care so much. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing team of leaders.

I am deeply proud of our transparency efforts. I do not think the city could be much more transparent and open. We implemented a variety of programs and publications for the public: “Behind the Scenes”, video interviews with the Manager and Department Heads, radio interviews with Big Foot 99, tons of social media outreach efforts, “The City View”, etc. Upgrades were made to Council Chambers for better viewing experiences for the public. All these efforts were put in place to show how dedicated we are to transparency in local government.

I am proud of each department’s efforts towards engaging the public via dozens of community events, such as music in the park, summer fest, art beat, national night out, fire prevention week, etc.

I am proud of our efforts to improve city processes such as required medical testing getting done significantly faster, getting us into compliance with our leave policy, completing a salary study (pending implementation), changing fire fighter working schedules, implementing a hiring bonus to recruit police officers, getting better contracts and MOU’s set up for various city services and intergovernmental efforts, transitioning the city from .com to .gov for better cyber security, initiating social gatherings for team building and unity, continually recognizing employees for their efforts via employee recognition programs and more.

Even though the city has a long way to go with beautification, I am proud of the beautification efforts that have taken place to our rec center, clubhouse, landscaping parks, downtown (including the new splash pad), and community clean up efforts.

I am proud that we started a safety committee. The safety committee regularly reviews and addresses safety concerns at the city. We are currently working with the state to improve our safety policies as well as new training opportunities. Our employees are safer because of this committee.

Even though the water issues are not resolved, we have made some good progress (spent approximately $3 million so far), and I am proud that we overcame the major water crisis (March) in such a quick and professional manner. I am thankful for the community and staff that rallied together to help us through that situation.

We proposed to Council that we should raise rates so we can have better infrastructure in the future and that has now been implemented. We hope to get $7.5 million in grants this month.  I am proud that we have created a clear roadmap for our future. When we finish our plan, residents will have more water than they know what to do with.

I am proud of the amount of work done on our streets. Several million dollars were invested in overlays and rebuilds, including the street in front of the old pen. We have entered an agreement to build an underpass for pedestrian safety across the bypass.

I am proud that we were able to get the city $3 million dollars in grants so far, hopefully more to come.

I am proud that we took our General Fund deficit from a $3 million operating deficit to an $800,000 operating deficit without losing any employees and supporting a COLA to help employees offset the increase in living expenses that we’ve all experienced.

I am proud that the City is on the path to a better financial future due to important decisions, such as conservative budgeting, we have made to lead us down that path. We are very fortunate to have a qualified Finance Director with a CPA leading the charge and providing easy-to-understand financial transparency and reporting.

I am proud of the efforts to update the City’s policies, including Fire Civil Service, Police Civil Service, Employee, and City Codes.

I am proud that our boards and commissions are full. They have not been full for a very long time and that is a sign that people want to be involved with the city. I am proud of our volunteer committee for providing a quality experience for our volunteers and especially those who volunteer at the city.

I am proud of what we have done to build, restore, and create relationships with community partners.

I am proud that we were nominated to as the “Most Improved Business” by several other businesses in the community via the Chamber of Commerce. I was told by the Chamber Director that the city has not received this nomination in at least twenty years.

I am proud that we were able to host town halls and listen to kids in the community. They ended up choosing the skate park features that are now at the skate park. This is YOUR skate park. It is already being heavily used and will provide smiles for many years to come.

I am proud that we were able to build a community dog park because of listening to suggestions made in our community engagement survey. Also, in the survey, we could see that residents wanted more indoor recreational activities and I am excited that residents will be able to roller skate this month at the rec center as well as enjoy new recreation programming opportunities.

I am proud of the training and development efforts that have been made a priority to strengthen our workforce which has resulted in better services to residents. I have heard of several instances of our public safety employees literally saving people’s lives because of their training and preparation. They should be very proud of themselves.

I am proud that we have provided quality experiences for businesses to choose to come to Rawlins such as Ichiban, 307 horse racing, C6 Outfitters, La Abuelitas, and many others. I am proud of the DDA for rebranding the from the Rainbow Teton to the HUB and increasing business engagement efforts through their wonderful programs. I am excited that the community is getting a Starbucks and the West End Project soon. There is more to come!  

I want to thank the City Council for hiring me and entrusting me with the opportunity to serve the community. I am grateful that the Council crafted and embraced the Strategic Plan, which has provided the community with a roadmap for our future.

I am truly grateful to the community for the outpouring of support and encouragement so many residents have shared with us. It seems like there has not been a week that has gone by without hearing incredibly thoughtful comments from the community in support of employees.

When I first came to Rawlins, I remember thinking how amazing the people are here. My opinion has not changed. The people are what make Rawlins special. At the heart of this community are very caring and loving people that take care of one another in times of need.I am grateful for all that I have learned coming to Rawlins. I gave everything I could give to the community, including many personal sacrifices. I love this community. My family loves this community. We will always hold Rawlins near and dear to our hearts.

My family did not expect to leave Rawlins this soon and we are sad to leave; but we are very excited for the next chapter. Looking back on the past two years, it has been hard, but worth the effort.

Working together, we made a difference.

Sincerely,

Shawn Metcalf

City Manager

October 11, 2022

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