During the summer of 2017 I worked for the City of Columbus, Georgia Consolidated Government in the Public Works Department. While there I created an online  interactive services guide for all public works services. This required interviewing customers and public works staff to gather all of the information necessary to create a guide that would be useful to the public. In addition to completing interviews, I also toured the city and all of the divisions within public works better understand exactly what they do. I was able to speak to people throughout the organization and get an insider’s perspective on how the city had changed and where they hope to see it go in the near future. During my time in the Public Works Department I learned many of the intricate details of ensuring the city runs as the public demands.

 

I was most impressed with the different programs that the Department has implemented. Ms. Pat Biegler has spearheaded a program that hires non-violent offenders from the county jail to perform janitorial services as well as work in the newly built recycling center. She has managed to cut costs, increase recycling as well as create a program that helps ex-offenders with their transition back into society. The department may not be as “glamorous” as others in local government but they perform some of the most important tasks and in my opinion are in the forefront of dealing with the changing citizenry and workforce.