by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
“Good morning, mayor’s office.”
Dozens and dozens of times a day. “Good morning, mayor’s office.”
That’s how Alice Newman and Iris Corbitt answer the phone — and always with the same professionalism and sweetness, regardless of their mood, the weather or the previous conversation.
“It’s just something we do,” said Alice. “You have to like what you do and sometimes a caller may make us angry or irate, but we cannot let it affect how we do our job. Sometimes after a rough call we just look at each other and we know that this, too, will pass.
“You have to have patience and you have to love it. We have our bad days, but we can’t let it show.”
Alice has been with the City for 10 years and the mayor’s office for nine. Iris has been with the City and the mayor’s office for about two-and-a-half years. Alice is the athlete — she’s a good softball player and boasts a near-200 average — while Iris is the shopper and fashion maven. Alice has four kids, two of them grown, and Iris is young enough to be one of them. However, both appreciate how valuable the other is, especially since they are often the first and last impression for callers or visitors to the mayor’s office.
“I wouldn’t trade her in for anything,” said Alice.
Both also love what they do.
“Being able to talk to so many different people every day is what I love about it,” said Iris. “There’s never a dull moment because you interact with so many people.”
If you think everyone dialing 630-1776 wants to tell Mayor John Peyton how wonderful he is, guess again. With a mayoral staff of about 30, many callers are looking for someone else. Others do want to speak to Peyton, but rarely get through. Still others just want to talk or vent or raise hell. Over the course of an hour, a day or a week, Alice and Iris hear it all.
Trash complaints, check. Suggestions, check. Personal issues, check.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), a caller wanted the mayor to put up a sign at the city limits saying, ‘Welcome to the proud home of Lynyrd Skynyrd.’ What do you say to a caller like that?” said Alice, adding she assured the lady she would pass her suggestion along to Peyton.
Often people call the mayor’s office when they should be looking for a different branch of government. Both Alice and Iris have a 25-page laminated book that lists every City department and just about every number available.
“One lady wanted the mayor to get her daughter out of ESE (Exceptional Student Education). She was serious, too,” said Iris, who referred the caller to the school board.
It’s not just callers that occupy the day. In an office with several chiefs and lots of Indians, there are many schedules to keep track of and people to find for others. During an hour on Thursday, a problem arose when interim planning and development director John Croft couldn’t be found. Seems he wasn’t answering his cell phone and he was due in City Council member Sharon Copeland’s office at 10 a.m. for a Cecil Field meeting. Croft eventually showed up.
Because City Hall and the mayor’s office are open to the public, Alice and Iris get plenty of walk-in visitors. Some are expected for scheduled meetings and conferences. Some are regulars, like members of the media who try and pry on a daily basis to unveil the town’s secrets. Others are unannounced walk-ins who need/want to see someone. They are usually turned away, but ever-so-politely.
Then there’s the list. It’s kept in the mayor’s office and downstairs with security. They are the “special people” as Alice puts it and they are allowed on the fourth floor, but not by themselves.
“Some of them are kind of out there and there’s one who wanted to know why he was on the list,” said Alice. “I just explained to him that he was special. Some people just want to walk up here and say they’ve been to the mayor’s office. Some really want help and they have been shuffled from floor to floor and from call to call. We try and walk them to the right person if we have to.”
Visitors may be entertaining, but it’s the eclectic nature of the callers that keeps things lively. Take Queen Chosen One Profitess, for instance. Yes, that’s what she goes by.
“I spent over an hour on the phone with her one day,” explained iris. “She says she’s the chosen, but she’s not recognized by this city. She says she’s not Jesus, but she’s second in line. She says she’s an heiress to Martin Luther King Jr. She also said that God revealed to her that the Weavers (Jaguars owners Wayne and Delores) were her godparents. She wanted the mayor to know the people of this city aren’t honoring her and that several churches have restraining orders against her. Then she sent us 15-page fax.”
Alice said Iris shouldn’t have let the Queen get that far.
“Iris is getting there, but I know how to cut a call off,” said Alice. “I let them vent and I pacify them. But you can cut the call off by telling them the phone is ringing off the hook. If you are the only here, you have to cut off those kind of calls.”
The hour is wrapping up and it’s been kind of atypical, a dozen calls at best, all fairly generic.
“Good morning, mayor’s office.”
Lots of intent staring. Alice is both listening and thinking.
“I’m the receptionist, sir.”
More listening.
“I do know where Regency Square is.”
More staring.
“Have you reported it to the mayor’s action office?”
More listening.
“There are rodents?”
More staring, slightly puzzled look.
“From the prison?”
The call ends with Alice referring an Arlington resident to streets and drainage. Seems he has a ditch behind his house that used to be maintained by prisoners but now has a fence and hasn’t been maintained and now rats are coming from the ditch into his yard.
“Good morning, mayor’s office.”