City’s Work Boot Tuesdays earn award

City tours of the Grayson Power Plant, the Scholl Canyon Landfill and other key facilities that provide services to Glendale residents recently won an award from a public sector association.

Conceived nearly two years ago, the city’s Work Boot Tuesdays, which gave residents an inside look at key services and departments, earned the Winston Crouch Award for Innovation in Government from the Southern California chapter of the American Society of Public Administration.

Work Boot Tuesdays were conceived because of a lull in the number of afternoon meetings on the second day of the work week, said city spokesman Tom Lorenz.

Management staff thought holding meetings out in the field would add a new perspective outside of council chambers, he said.

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“You can ask questions sitting on the dais, the city manager can listen to his department head like the general public does every Tuesday about a project that’s being proposed, but it’s a whole different story when you ask that question or you make that presentation when you’re standing in the center of it,” Lorenz said.

In addition to the landfill and power plant, Work Boot Tuesdays have also been held at the Glendale Police Department, where those in attendance tried out a shooting simulator that depicted several scenarios.

There was also a walking tour of the Los Angeles-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant, where waste water is turned into recycled water, and a ride around town on the city’s Beeline bus system.

While some of the events were well attended, others weren’t with only council members and city staffers showing up.

However, Councilman Ara Najarian said even with a low turnout, he still learned something, just like any resident could have.

“You really can’t make sound decisions in a vacuum. You have to be out there seeing, feeling and smelling the different departments and really grasping what’s involved when it comes to making those decisions,” he said.

With the announcement of the award, Lorenz said two additional Work Boot Tuesdays will be planned for the fall. One will be a tour of the Glendale Fire Department’s firefighter training facility and then an inside look at the Glendale library system. Exact dates have yet to be announced.

Three workshops centered on developing a South Glendale Community Plan are also being labeled as Work Boot events because they will include presentations about the inner workings of the city, Lorenz said.

The first meeting will focus on the development history in south Glendale, and it will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the city’s Planning Hearing Room, located at 633 E. Broadway, Room 105.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian