TEMPLE TERRACE \u2014 Once a department struggling with morale and teamwork, the city\u2019s finance division has been transformed.<\/p>\n
For that, the city said thank you to finance operations manager Jamie Deve, who played a major role in that transformation and was honored Oct. 21 as the city\u2019s first Employee of the Year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard to pinpoint just one thing because she does so many things,\u201d said City Finance Director Jim Ingram.<\/p>\n
Deve, a Tampa Bay Tech and University of South Florida graduate with a degree in economics, was chosen from the group of Employees of the Month honored during the past year. Winners are chosen by their peers rather than management.<\/p>\n
Deve\u2019s peers in her department have enjoyed greater productivity and a more satisfying workplace thanks to her determined direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a ball of energy with a ton of good ideas, and when she sees something needs to be done, she jumps in and does it,\u201d said Mayor Andy Ross, who said Deve helped turn around a department in need of a reboot.<\/p>\n
Deve said it was all about changing the culture. She said the previous department was more individually focused, but new employees who were more intent on team-building, were brought in two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that is the biggest dynamic that has changed here,\u201d Deve said. \u201cWe used to feel like we were walking on eggshells around here. No one really kind of got along. Now we have a group that puts the city first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deve wears several different hats in the city\u2019s finance department. She has streamlined a variety of financial processes and procedures, handles payroll and is responsible for managing FEMA grant reimbursements.<\/p>\n
Almost no nickel of city money passes across her desk without her oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that stands out is her work with all city staff to document time and other costs related to Hurricane Milton (and other storms) to maximize the city\u2019s reimbursement from FEMA,\u201d Ingram said. He also praised her passion for public service, teamwork, and integrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe finance team is thrilled to see that her love and commitment to the city has been recognized beyond our borders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deve said was surprised by the award, especially since, with just one month to go, she had yet to earn an Employee of the Month designation.<\/p>\n
Last week, one member of her team, Assistant Finance Director Jennifer Newman, \u201cpranced\u201d around the office telling everyone she had a secret, Deve said.<\/p>\n
Ingram came up to her and told her she was not selected as employee of the month, and apologized.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you are the Employee of the Year,\u201d he said, smiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe likes to joke around,\u201d Deve said, laughing.<\/p>\n
Tears flowed when Ingram broke the news and again at last week\u2019s City Council meeting, when she was officially presented the award by Ross.<\/p>\n
Her family \u2014 husband Schneider and sons Malachi, a Tampa firefighter, and Anthony, 5 \u2014 were on hand, and her entire department gave her a rousing ovation.<\/p>\n
She thanked her husband for sacrificing his job as a firefighter-paramedic for something that allows him to be home and on kid duty more often.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for being there so that I can be here,\u201d she said at the council meeting. \u201cWhen I get pulled away to work, he knows what it is to be a public servant, and he stepped back and allowed me to be a public servant now, so that I can shine.\u201d<\/p>\n
And like every good leader, Deve was quick to credit her department.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team is so amazing right now and supportive,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I love working with them. I’m always here with them; even on my days off. I’m calling in to check on them. They’re just so wonderful, and being a part of their team is really what makes this so rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEMPLE TERRACE \u2014 Once a department struggling with morale and teamwork, the city\u2019s finance division has been transformed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[276,18267,135,18268,137,136,8609,3650],"class_list":["post-23840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-hillsborough-county","tag-jamie-deve","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-tech","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-temple-terrace","tag-university-of-south-florida"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}