What Would You Say You Do Here?

Do you think you know what Animal Control Officers do? You're probably missing parts of their whole picture. In this episode, veteran Matt Ciesielczyk and rookie Blake Stebbins shared some of their lesser-known duties for the City of Elgin. Learn about the Dog Board, their role in putting on the now-annual "Fur Pet's Sake" event, which one of the two is allergic to bees, and what day of the year is usually their busiest. 

In the height of Elgin's snowy season, we talked with two women who do important work towards keeping our streets and roads passable, no matter what Mother Nature throws at us. Liz Price is a longtime truck driver, and Katie Thrun is an operations supervisor for EPW. Hear their road stories of winter and other seasons, learn about Snow Command (an actual, real location within Elgin Public Works), and learn what happens when 40 tons of truck-and-salt decides to do its own thing. 

Keeping the shows running smoothly at Elgin's Hemmens Cultural Center isn't an easy job. John "Smooch" Medina has been part of the framework that holds up programs - sometimes, literally, with his hands - for a decade. He talks about the spider-hole inside the Hemmens, the time a client asked him to break the laws of physics, the four most pampered parrots he ever met, and most importantly, how he got the nickname "Smooch". 

We hit the road for this episode - Summit Street, to be precise - and met Lt. Mike Murtagh and Nick Walker at Elgin Fire Station #1 during an active shift to talk about life as firefighters in the City of Elgin.  Luckily, they weren't called to action during the recording of the episode, although you'll hear a lot going on in the background. Learn how they cope with the grueling 24-hour shifts, how they stay up-to-date on the latest firefighting science and techniques, and who the best cook currently is at Station #1. 

If you've been to the Centre of Elgin lately, then you know Ashley Sumner's face and sense of humor. She's been working her way up through various roles with the  City for half of her life, and she shares some of her experiences in this episode. She also reveals the precise date on the calendar when most New Years' resolutioners hit the eject button. Listen to find out when!

A city as old as Elgin can contain structures from more than a dozen architectural movements and eras. It's up to Christen Sundquist to help preserve the architecturally-significant homes and businesses of Elgin, and identify "newer" buildings that become "historic" as time flies by. Learn more about the movement in the 1970s that birthed Elgin's first Historic District, how Christen found herself aiming for such a unique career path, and why the host is definitely NOT supposed to ask about her personal favorite piece of architecture in Elgin. 

The Water Department's product touches our residents' lives many times each day. Learn more from Nora Bertram and Jeff Luker about how they make ten million gallons of it every day.  We'll trace the journey of a drop of water from Elgin's municipal sources (yes, there are multiple) and hear about a couple of the near-disasters that were averted by the quick work of our Water Department team. Water may seem simple, but to get it right and get it to your faucet is anything but simple!

We get a two-fer in this episode, as Joe Schroeder and David Smith share stories of their combined 40+ years working on and in the streets of the City of Elgin. You'll hear about the worst sound they can hear while vacuuming up leaves (it's "ka-CHOONK"), some times when they've been in actual danger on-the-job, and one of the guys reveals one of his worst fears. And you'll get a detailed picture of what our Equipment Operators do month-in, month-out for the City of Elgin. 

Our second episode features Barb Keselica, a longtime City of Elgin employee who recently stepped into the Assistant Director's chair in our Parks & Rec department. Yes, it's the Leslie Knope job, and yes, Barb is a fan. She also helped build Nightmare On Chicago Street from the ground floor up to its massive size and status as the premier Halloween event in Illinois. Hear more about the early days of NOCS and what to expect in the future!

Our first episode of "What Would You Say You Do Here?" features Jennie Phillips, a longtime City of Elgin employee who made the shift from 911 to help launch Elgin's 311 call center in 2014. Also: she really likes candy.