4/17 Weekly Email

Hi all,

Our 2025 election nomination form is now open. You can nominate either yourself or another UAEA member for any of the open roles (Vice President, Membership Director, Resolutions Director, and 2 Citywide Representative roles) between now and Thursday, May 1st, at 5PM. If you would like to view the descriptions and responsibilities of each role, please check Articles 5 and 6 of our bylaws. Once you’ve submitted a nomination the UAEA Elections Committee (3 volunteers who are not part of the Executive Board) will review eligibility and reach out to confirm interest. 

I plan to set up a space on uaeatempe.com with photos, bios, and any information candidates would like to pass along to voters. I will also print copies of any candidate information and place it on our bulletin boards. Depending on how many people run for each role we may set up a special member’s meeting just to meet the candidates - there will also be time set aside for candidates to speak at our May 15th member’s meeting. 

Please note that City policy and State law prevent candidates from soliciting their coworkers during work hours or handing out campaign materials on City property. If candidates would like to hand out materials to City employees they must do so during hours they are not scheduled and on public sidewalks only (no sidewalks or curbs behind City fencing). Do not print any campaign material on City printers and do not do any campaign work on your City computer at any time. For that matter, do not use any City materials for any part of your campaign. If you have any questions about these restrictions or other parts of the elections process, please reach out to elections@uaeatempe.com. You can view election process information yourself on our bylaws page under the Article 8 section. 

Finally, here is our tentative schedule for our elections. This is subject to change based upon how many people run (if only one person runs for each position, for instance, we’ll wrap things up faster than this). 

Thursday, April 17th to Thursday, May 1st at 5PM: Nomination and confirmation period.

Friday, May 2nd to Sunday, June 1st at midnight: Campaigning period. 

Monday, June 2nd to Wednesday, June 3rd at midnight - Voting period

Monday, June 12th (or earlier) - Announcement of winners. 

I have a few other announcements/reminders before I wrap up this week. 

First, Employee Relief Fund. If you’re looking to make a difference but can’t commit the time to our board, consider applying for Tempe’s Employee Relief Fund (ERF) Board. The ERF team is looking for 2 new members to serve 2-year terms from 2025-2027. The group reviews employee requests for financial assistance and, when needed, directs them to resources that can help them with temporary financial setbacks. This is an important group but does not require a huge time commitment - we usually meet once every 3-4 weeks for 15 minutes to discuss applications. Find more information here. 

Second, Employee Development Feedback. Employee Development reached out and requested that I spotlight their new survey that is looking for feedback on how they can improve professional development training access and what kinds of professional development training employees would like to see them offer. This is a great opportunity to let them know if your work schedule prevents you from attending classes or if there are current gaps in their offerings that you would like to see down the road. All participants can also enter into a drawing for a Tempe-branded Yeti mug. 

Third, Internal Audit Feedback. If you have concerns about potential risks to the City or want to report certain behaviors in your department that cause you concern, make sure you fill out Internal Audit’s survey before April 30th. It takes 2-5 minutes depending on how much detail you want to add and will help them prioritize projects in the coming fiscal year. 

Fourth, Adopt-A-Path. Members of the UAEA Board will be meeting on Sunday, April 27th at 7:00AM to clean up our Adopt-A-Path trail. We meet in the Tempe Parking Lot on the southeast Corner of Curry and Miller (approximate address is 1325 E Curry Road, Tempe AZ 85281, see attached photo), then walk north up our path to Mckellips Rd. Breakfast, drinks, safety gloves, trash pickers, and trash bags will be provided. Please bring a hat and/or sunglasses. This event normally takes 1.5-2 hours to complete, is eligible for community wellness points, and is a great opportunity to meet members of the board and your fellow union members. If you’d like to attend, please sign up here by Thursday, April 24th at 5PM. 

Fifth, Scholarship: As a reminder, our annual college scholarship program closes on Friday, April 18th, at midnight. Applicants have a little more than 1 day left to complete their application and submit - we will begin reviewing submissions immediately after the portal closes. 

Sixth, Member Meeting. I was unable to attend today’s member meeting and don’t have minutes - I will post them on our website in the next few days once I have a copy. 

Thanks for a great week everyone!