City recognizes GIS Informational Technology employees as STARS

A hard-working group of GIS employees received STARS Awards June 12 for going above and beyond in their jobs for the City.

The City recognized three Geographical Information System (GIS) employees who work in the Information Technology Department: Gerald Lee, Susan Carmouche and Bob Boutiette. A geographical information system is a framework for gathering, managing, and analyzing data.

Mayor Shane McFarland recognized the GIS employees during the June 12, 2019, meeting of the Nashville City Council with the STARS award for Outstanding Performance: “Succeeding Through Attitudes Reflecting Service Excellence.”

In the nomination narrative presented to the STARS Committee, Fire Chief Mark Fouks provided the following nomination:

“Our GIS team members have become invaluable tools for all of emergency services. Their innovative mapping and data collection capabilities provide us with analytics that assist in determining station placement and resource allocation, completing risk assessments, and pinpointing impacted areas during disasters and deployments. Most recently, the team did an amazing job assisting the City with the planning and response to the flooding that occurred in February of this year. A dashboard was created to show all of the important information associated with the rising waters, including high water streets and road closures. Personnel were able to collect this data in the field via an app and it would populate on the dashboard in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and in other remote areas. The team has also been assisting Nashville Fire Rescue with the accreditation process. Gerald Lee has created (sometimes at the drop of a hat) several maps that have to be included in our strategic plan, our standard of cover document, and will soon be helping with a self-assessment manual as well. We absolutely could not function without these talented and professional individuals. They are always willing to help us out, no matter the project, and they do this intricate work quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Therefore, I feel they deserve to collectively be recognized by receiving the STARS Award.”

The GIS team produces intricate maps, databases, and other projects that are invaluable to public safety and all aspects of municipal government.

The STARS Service Excellence program is intended to recognize outstanding employees who embody the city’s standards for service excellence and exemplify the city’s core service

values. The purpose of the STARS award is to recognize and reward those employees who go

above and beyond their normal job duties in providing outstanding customer service to internal and external customers.

Among the recent data management projects implemented by the GIS team has been a system to support emergency operations with an application or App to assist dispatch in finding the “best route” to an emergency. Other applications include Smoke alarm installation mapping in high risk areas, structure analysis, a severe weather dashboard for emergency management, and a fire hydrant application for utilization in the field by firefighters.

To watch an interview with GIS Coordinator Gerald Lee featured in “Adventures in Firefighting,” simply click this YouTube video link https://youtu.be/PvWpfWpwASk.

A link to Public GIS Maps can be viewed at https://maps3.murfreesborotn.gov/PublicGIS/.

Congratulations to the City’s GIS employees for being named recipients of the STARS Award for Outstanding Performance.