The proverb “Good things come in small packages” is often attributed to renowned Greek fable writer and storyteller Aesop.  It is one of the morals of his famous fable “The Lion and the Mouse.”  I won’t retell the story here, but the tiny mouse proves his value despite his size.  

 

Today the phrase is sometimes associated with a person of smaller stature who delivers a larger-than-life athletic or theatrical performance.  Another example would be expensive gifts that are not physically large, such as jewelry or watches.

 

Bridgeport as a whole could fall under the premise of this proverb.  Many great things are coming out of our small town as I have cited countless times over the last two years of “Why Bridgeport?” blog articles.  I’m sure you won’t be surprised when I call out more.

 

The focus today is on the municipal government of Bridgeport itself.  In particular, some of our smallest city departments.  Several of our city departments are fairly large and have dozens of employees.  Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works, and Parks & Recreation come to mind.

 

However, some have only a few employees, sometimes only one.  Departments like Administration, Information & Technology, Community & Economic Development, and the Office of Emergency Management.  Departments that despite their size are yielding big results for the city.

 

The Administration Department, run by the City Manager, contains several small subdivisions.  Three, of those, are Human Resources, City Clerk, and Safety/Facilities.

 

One employee is designated to handle the human resources needs of the City of Bridgeport.   Relatively new to the position of Director of Human Resources is Amanda Woody, she began this past February, replacing the previous director Jordan Hill. 

 

The post entails more than just advertising for job openings, which is a fairly involved undertaking considering there are nearly 300 city employees and some fairly consistent turnover.  Add to it dealing with employee issues, insurance claims, salary and benefit studies, policy manuals, employee handbooks, employee onboarding, etc.  It is an amazing amount for one person to keep up with.

 

Our City Clerk is Lauren Rogers.  A relative newcomer as well, Lauren has been with the city for a little shy of two years.  In her position, she handles all of our municipal elections.  From recruiting poll workers to managing early voting, and supervising election day polling places to tabulating results, to working through a lot of paperwork it is an enormous undertaking for one person.

 

Lauren is also responsible for being at the vast majority of municipal meetings.  She is called on to advise board and committee members on meeting rules and procedures, assist in preparing agendas, record meeting minutes, schedule and notify members of future meetings, and much more.  She helps keep the city moving and on track.         

 

Shawn Newbrough serves as the City of Bridgeport Safety and Facilities Manager.  He is responsible for conducting safety surveys of all of the facilities owned and operated by the city, holding regular safety training sessions for all employees, heading up the Safety Committee, providing and monitoring maintenance of buildings and the systems within them, updating MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) lists and information across the municipality, supervising the city’s two custodians, and much more.  

 

Dealing with everything from faulty light switches to HVAC systems, smoke detectors to roof replacement, safety code violations to generator power backup systems, Shawn had a breadth of responsibilities that stagger the imagination.  

 

Next is the city’s Information Technology Department which has recently undergone some transition.  For years the technology needs of the city were handled by one individual.  In the wake of the city’s cyber attack, it became obvious that we needed more.  So, Director of Information and Technology Jesse Chaney, System Analyst Josh Drummond, and part-time IT Intern Ethan Tyler were hired.  

 

The three have done a remarkable job modernizing our cybersecurity procedures, hardware, and software.  They have also upgraded our hardware and technology infrastructure to bring the city up to modern standards.  A good bit of the cost of the upgrades has come through grant funding, which they sought out and procured.  

 

Jesse has recently left his position with the city to work with a consulting firm.  A firm that we now contract on an as-needed basis to assist Josh and Ethan with the ongoing work of the IT Department.  

 

We live in a digital-dependent world.  Due to a lack of staff, funding, or both, countless municipalities have fallen behind.  Technology product lifespans are short and the threats from bad actors are always an issue.  The contributions of the City of Bridgeport IT Department to protect, support, and keep us up-to-date are invaluable.    

 

Andrea Kerr serves as the Director of Community & Economic Development, where she single-handedly performs a wide range of duties and responsibilities for the city. Her duties include maintaining our Comprehensive Plan, working with multiple municipal boards (Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Commission, and Development Authority), managing the BDA Business Loan Program, our Business Incentive programs, the Abandoned Property Demolition program, and much more.  

 

In addition to those duties, Andrea manages our three code enforcement officers, maintains the City of Bridgeport’s social media accounts, and handles most of our marketing and public relations.  The city’s new website is one of her major recent accomplishments in this area.  

 

Along with the constant daily social media challenge, Andrea also works closely with the Associated Businesses of Bridgeport and the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce on various events and activities occurring in the city.  All told, it is an overwhelming role.  

 

Our final small department is the Office of Emergency Management.  Tim Curry is our Director of Emergency Services and the department’s only employee.  Tim’s responsibilities are far-ranging as well.  

 

He is responsible for coordinating services and personnel during emergency events, managing and maintaining our Emergency Command Vehicle, city-wide disaster preparedness, managing our drone fleet, providing drone pilot education, heading our Bridgeport Emergency Services Council, coordinating emergency drills, managing the RAVE notification system, and on and on.  

 

Many of these endeavors require him to work not only within our city, but with other cities, counties, the state, and the federal government.  His work with FEMA concerning the recent flooding incidents in our area is a perfect example.    

 

Tim has also been doing an effective job of locating and writing grants.  Both for his projects and in cooperation with other departments for their projects, he has found and secured funding for several initiatives in the city.  Just as with the employees of our other small departments, Tim’s responsibilities are varied and far-ranging.  

 

Why Bridgeport?  A wealth of good things are happening in our town.  Many of these good things are occurring because of our small city departments.  Their hard work and dedication are apparent and much appreciated.  

 

They collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate with all of the departments within the city allowing them to magnify their effectiveness and provide the city with essential services that are the envy of many communities much larger than ours.  

 

Only a handful of employees make up these small departments in the city.  Even so, they are making a big difference.   Aesop was right, sometimes “great” things come in small packages.

 

Editor's Note: Photos show, clockwise from top left, Amanda Woody, Lauren Rogers, Josh Drummond, Tim Curry, Andrea Kerr, and Shawn Newbrough.