Milton and Mane
Welcome to Milton and Mane, the City of Milton, Georgia's official podcast—a dynamic space where community connection meets insightful conversation. Whether you're a resident, local business owner, neighboring government official, or a curious listener from afar, this podcast is your gateway to understanding Milton on every level.
Each episode is designed to bring you closer to the heart of our city, offering behind-the-scenes stories that humanize the people who keep Milton running. You'll gain valuable insights into local government operations, discover new opportunities, and hear from the voices that shape our community. Expect to learn about our rich history, stay updated on future developments, and explore the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability initiatives that make Milton unique.
Join us as we celebrate our community, encourage civic engagement, and share inspiring stories that resonate beyond our city limits. Subscribe today and be part of the conversation that's building a better Milton, one episode at a time.
Stock Music provided by ikoliks, from Pond5
Milton and Mane
And So It Begins: Meet Steve Krokoff - City Manager
Welcome to Milton and Mane! This inaugural episode highlights what makes Milton unique: a steadfast commitment to preserving its heritage while embracing thoughtful growth and innovation. City Manager Steve Krokoff shares insights into his role in maintaining Milton's exceptional quality of life, showcasing the city's dynamic interactions with residents, entrepreneurs, and neighboring communities.
Listeners will explore Milton's dedication to community engagement through active participation in committees, public projects, and strategic partnerships. From initiatives like Destination Deerfield to efforts to preserve historical charm, the discussion underscores how Milton balances its small-town essence with a vibrant, connected future fueled by pride, leadership, and collaboration.
With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.
Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov
Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov.
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for the city of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. I'm your host today, christy Weeks, the communications manager for the city of Milton, and I'm excited to welcome everyone to this first episode. So we're kicking things off with someone who plays a very crucial role in the city. Today we'll get to know him, but in the future there's a good chance he will host some episodes. Who could be more fitting for the opener than Steve Krokoff, milton's very own city manager? Steve brings a wealth of experience, insight and deep commitment to our community, making him the ideal person to set the stage for what this podcast is all about. So let's chat.
Speaker 2:Well, Christy, that's an incredible opening. You've built me up so much. I hope I can deliver.
Speaker 1:I have no doubts. I have no doubts. So, starting off, I think it's really important that you tell us a little bit about your journey to becoming the city manager for the city of Milton bit about your journey to becoming the city manager for the city of Milton?
Speaker 2:I'd be glad to. I actually started out as the city of Milton's police chief back in 2015, which is what my background was. I was with the Albany New York Police Department for a little over 23 years, with the last six years as its chief, and I ended up in Albany. I did my undergrad work there. I actually grew up on Long Island, just outside New York City. I did my undergrad work there. I actually grew up on Long Island, just outside New York City and did my undergrad work there, ended up connecting with this really dynamic criminal justice professor in my senior year who was actually a retired California Highway Patrolman, went on to get his PhD and became just an excellent professor, and while law enforcement was never really in the thought process for me I don't it's not in my family like it is so often in a lot of law enforcement.
Speaker 2:He really piqued my interest. I ended up taking the test and fortunately did well and Albany was very good to me good to me and my family. It was a great career. I learned a lot. The experiences I had there were invaluable and a lot of that set me up for to be able to do the job I can do today valuable and a lot of that set me up for to be able to do the job I can do today.
Speaker 1:I feel like, with such an extensive background in public service, how does that bleed into becoming the city manager, and what's the most memorable experience you have from your career that shapes you today?
Speaker 2:You had two good questions there, so I want to take what you first said first. You know, in policing, to be able to effectively provide public safety for your community, you have to recognize that public safety does not exist in a vacuum. A big part of public safety is the community in which you work and all the various facets associated with that, and that's everything from how your community development works, how your parks and rec works, how they all interact, and all of that creates an environment which is either pro-crime that's a term or creates an environment that is not crime welcoming. It goes back to the broken windows theory of policing and it kind of talks about if you walk down the street and if you have a couple of windows broken, what's going to happen is people are going to recognize there's not community pride there and people are more likely to commit crime, break more windows and continue on and commit further and further crime.
Speaker 2:So to recognize how that works. For as far as becoming a city manager, every part of what we do as a city contributes to public safety and public safety also contributes to the things we do in a city, like economic development. If you do not have a safe area, you are not going to be able to introduce different types of retail and services and things along those lines because people just simply aren't going to come if they don't feel safe.
Speaker 2:It did set me up for this, though I was never truly considering going into city management. I loved being a police chief. I loved being a police officer. Now, going into the second part of your question, I've learned a lot over my 30 years in public service 30 plus years and one of the things I learned, probably in the transition into administration when I was with the police department, was learning the importance of community cooperation, community partnership. You cannot be successful without having that team approach. In Albany, for instance, when I took over as police chief, it was a tough environment for the police department. We were not very well liked. We were not very well trusted. We were doing a decent job in knocking down crime at the time, but we were doing it independent from our community. There was very poor communication when the communication did occur.
Speaker 2:it was not usually very positive. So one of the things we did when we took over and I say we I had a great team in place Trust me.
Speaker 2:I do very little great on my own, I assure you. When we took over, we kind of flipped the script on that, brought everybody in from different stakeholder groups within the community wanted to hear more about what they needed from their police department, but also what could they provide to their police department Right, and how can we work at reducing crime together. And that took about a year. When we had gotten through that, we created a new strategic plan. Based on that, we just destroyed the crime trends in the city of Albany. We were able to that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was amazing and it was a group effort. It wasn't me, it wasn't my team, it was the entire city, in fact, so much so that we became one of only 15 departments in the country that was recognized by the White House as a model for policing.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And that was really a 180.
Speaker 1:So how big is the community in Albany? I mean size-wise. What are we looking at?
Speaker 2:About 100,000. Wow, it's not that different from Sandy Springs, though Okay, I think it's a bit of a different dynamic. There's a significant portion of the population that lives below the poverty level, and we certainly had our challenges with crime and violent crime. At the end of the day, if you can't resonate with the people that live in your community and they don't have any trust in you, you're not going to get the results that you're seeking.
Speaker 1:You've got to have buy-in.
Speaker 2:So I would say that you asked about some. You know one of the accomplishments, or I would say that that was kind of foundational Right and making me understand the importance of collaboration in moving us towards better outcomes.
Speaker 1:So in theory, we were a relatively new city. I mean new city, I mean 2006, and you arrived as 2015. So that's under 10 years.
Speaker 2:I got to plan the 10, be part of planning the 10 year anniversary party, that's so, that's so.
Speaker 2:We were young and in a lot of ways that was kind of really cool, optimal Right. I remember during my interview process, you know, nobody could come back and say, well, well, that's just the way we've always done it. Well, you've only done that for a couple years. So let's not get too entrenched in the old ways of doing business and and I say that facetiously but there's really some truth and and but also some empowerment to that right right, because now you have a group of people here who have the ability to, working with their council and their community, determine the trajectory of the city together, a growth mindset, and it was fantastic. And, plus, people were so eager to get involved, not just internally but from the community. In fact, that's what this community was built on. It's why Milton is a city.
Speaker 2:There was just a lot of positive energy behind that.
Speaker 1:So you touch on something. I'll ask you this question. So you said something about that's why Milton is a city. For those who may not know that history, can you briefly sum that up on how we got here?
Speaker 2:Well, sure, it goes back more than 20 years and a lot of those original people that were foundational in protecting the city from the suburban sprawl that you've seen throughout the whole metro area. If they did not do that work 20 years ago by dragging themselves down to Fulton County to be at the various zoning, hearings and things along those lines, we wouldn't be where we are today. They were doing their best to exercise local control but it's very difficult in a monolith like Fulton County and they started really exploring as cities started to grow out throughout the state and were successful. Sandy Springs predated us. I think the citizens of what is now Milton became energized, similar to Johns Creek, I think we did it. At the same time they recognized wow, we could really control our own destiny, very possibly do it more efficiently and more effectively. And Jan Jones, who's not only a Milton resident but is often called the mother of Milton, supported that endeavor again with that group of really strong residents and we became a city and, as far as I could tell, we've never looked back.
Speaker 1:And it's such a cool community and with that, it makes me want to ask you more on the personal side what are some of your favorite things about the city? As we're talking about this? I mean, you came down from Albany, New York. What kind of drew you in and what are your favorite parts of the city?
Speaker 2:So I've. I know I've only been here since 2015, but our family is in and around the metro area.
Speaker 2:So you know, full transparency. I thought Milton was Alpharetta, I'll just be honest about that. I didn't really recognize the difference between the two. But we had been coming here forever. We slowly really fell in love with the area and all it had to offer. But you know, there was something unique, as you. You know, for me at the time Milton was probably everything from Providence South. I didn't really much know about anything north at that point, but recognizing how much this community embraced its heritage, Right.
Speaker 2:Wanted to make sure that Milton remained something special outside of what the North Fulton area or the larger metro area was becoming, because it's incredibly popular. As you know, people are coming here for a better quality of life lower taxes, lower cost of living.
Speaker 2:So you become a victim of your own success and Milton has just. In my opinion, one of the favorite things is that commitment to its heritage by intentionally making sure population density stayed down through its zoning, and how we're very careful about the type of businesses we try to attract, and things along those lines. I think it's been phenomenally successful. And when you're in Milton now you know you're in Milton.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Absolutely the horse farms. When I first moved here, it was the most peaceful feeling coming down all these curvy roads which, coming out of Colorado, threw me for a loop. For sure it's a feeling.
Speaker 2:It's pride, it's community pride and it's undeniable and you can feel it as you travel through the city.
Speaker 1:You can, I agree. So I'm going to steer this back to city manager. Many of us we hear about a city manager. We know you exist. What do you do? Solid question.
Speaker 2:What do I do?
Speaker 1:What do you do what?
Speaker 2:did I do today. So officially I'm the chief administrative officer of the city. Okay, and while that doesn't tell you much, my job is really to make sure that I execute on the council strategy every day. It's about overseeing daily operations, city staff, managing the budget, managing our strategic plan and ensuring that I keep this city moving forward according to the vision of our elected officials. So that's what it looks like, maybe on a more macro level.
Speaker 2:On the day-to-day, you're getting your hands dirty, especially in a city this size of only 40 or so thousand. You have to be able to go out there and do the job. It's not just directing directors. We're very fortunate here. We have a very talented group of professionals here, not only at the director level but throughout the organization, and they don't need me overseeing them every day in the minutiae. But I have to be able to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. So you know, you start understanding what is paving. When are you, are you over coding? When are you doing full depth reclamation? What is the pci? And that's in every department that you have, and I truly find that. I find it fascinating. I consider myself a lifelong learner and to learn some of these new things has been incredible. The things I could tell you about stormwater at this point in my life is amazing we'll circle back to that in another episode but it, but it is you to.
Speaker 2:At the macro level, you have to make sure that we're providing the services, that we're achieving our objectives, we're executing our strategic plan we're doing it in an efficient manner. We're providing high-quality services and that's incredibly important to the city, which, again, I'm going to tout it now because I can Absolutely.
Speaker 1:We just came out as number one in the country for customer service, and that is a big deal, I think that's a huge deal because not everybody has a great experience on dealing with their local government and I find that to be fascinating. It was one of the things that drew me to Milton personally. I'm glad to hear that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is something we embrace. It's part of our core values, which our staff, our team, knows quite well, and they wear that with pride too. Let's face it, I'm not the one that's delivering excellent customer service. It's everybody out there that's delivering that customer service. So I think it really speaks volumes about the quality of people we have here.
Speaker 1:I'm going to kind of open that up a little bit, just because it takes good leadership for people to do their job and to do it well and to take pride in it. And so, coming from my perspective, yes, the leadership here is unbelievable and we're very fortunate to have the directions that we do.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. We have, like I said, at every level we've got great people and leadership happens at every level. So I'm with you there.
Speaker 1:What is something people might be surprised to learn about the day-to-day work of a city manager or a deputy city manager. What would surprise people?
Speaker 2:manager. What would surprise people? Probably the amount of hands-on and interaction we have with the public, with the community. We're not generally sitting behind a desk, though I, you know, sit behind a desk, probably more than I ever thought I would be, but it's a matter of having those communications getting involved. We have tremendous entrepreneurs in the city and the ideas that they come up with are mind-boggling, which I love. But it also forces us to start thinking differently, because our codes a lot of times don't even contemplate the ideas that people are throwing at us. In fact, I have a meeting after this regarding just one of those ideas from one of our constituents that own a business, one of those ideas from one of our constituents that own a business, and I think people would be surprised at the level of involvement we have, the amount of hands-on and the work we do with making sure we have codes that represent not only the current Milton but the future Milton.
Speaker 2:It's fun too, it's great to be involved and the impact we can have.
Speaker 1:So accessibility is open and the impact we can have. So accessibility is open. I think most people would think that the city management is not available, is not easy to access and it sounds like you and our two deputy city managers spend a lot of time making sure that things are addressed and that you're involved and that you support and I encourage it.
Speaker 2:It's an open invitation right now through this podcast. We love to have visitors, of course, but when we sit down, we look at constructive improvement every time.
Speaker 1:What do you think are Milton's biggest strengths and distinguishing qualities?
Speaker 2:Beyond its city manager, beyond its city manager.
Speaker 1:Well, Val, you know.
Speaker 2:Without a doubt it goes back to the discussion we were just having. Right, it's engaged citizens. They predated the city. They are still out there some of some of them that were out there 25 years ago making sure that fulton county didn't just run over this area and we've had new citizens that have moved here since from. They could be here two years, they could be here 30 years. They are very engaged in the city, whether they're involved in our committees or boards that have moved here since from. They could be here two years, they could be here 30 years. They are very engaged in the city, whether they're involved in our committees or boards, which has tremendous, tremendous impact on the city, or they're in one of our volunteer groups, or they've been involved in one of our many stakeholder groups, or they're just coming for public comment. It's that community engagement that is probably our biggest strength.
Speaker 1:I was going to say so. How common do you think that is? I mean, you've had many years in public service. How common do you think it is that the citizens are so involved and proud and keep pushing forward the way Milton does?
Speaker 2:The city I come from. For sure, their pride in that city grew, especially over the years, but I think things were more focused at the time on specific situations. In a city like that, you had all kinds of different crises and things like that that would occur and people seem to be more focused on those individual issues.
Speaker 2:When I say, from a community engagement standpoint, the city of Milton, I feel like there's more of a focus on the entirety of the city, where we are, where we're going, most importantly probably, or the foundation of where we've been. That connection between the three, I truly believe, has that impact.
Speaker 1:Fair Fair. I'm just curious. I came out of a very small town in Colorado, so where it seemed like everybody was involved, but we're talking about 7,700 regular residents, so a much smaller scale.
Speaker 2:I always say Milton is the biggest small town I have ever seen. Wherever you go, you run into people. You know it's amazing that there's 40-something thousand people here, but it just seems like we all know each other Friendly. It's absolutely. It's kind of mind-boggling.
Speaker 1:So we got strengths, we got qualities. How do you balance maintaining Milton's small-town charm with the pressures of growth and development? Because that is happening everywhere Just a mad burst of people moving up this area spanning out, heading out past Cherokee County up north. How do you balance that?
Speaker 2:Planning. You've got to plan ahead, and I don't mean planning for the end of this year, planning for the end of the next decade, like our comprehensive plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and I think that's something that the citizens of Milton have really understood for an awfully long time. We are very intentional about what we do and it's certainly undeniably quality over quantity, and I think that that is truly what makes us different. We're very intentional about the types of businesses we're trying to attract and we use our zoning very effectively to be able to create that sense of community and adhere to our character and vision.
Speaker 1:Well, as we're talking about that, what would you say? Your top priorities for the city are over, just the next few years. I know you guys plan 10 years in advance and you're really looking at the next decade, next few years.
Speaker 2:So my priorities are always the council's priorities, and I don't just say that it's not up to me. I'm here to execute on their strategies, but I could tell you that public safety is always forefront for them, kind of what we discussed earlier.
Speaker 2:If you don't have a safe community, the other things start falling. So foundationally you need to have a safe community. People need to feel safe. So public safety is and I'm positive will remain a priority for the city of Milton. I have to say over my decade here our council has always been incredibly supportive.
Speaker 2:They've been incredibly supportive across the board and across all the councils that I had the pleasure and the good fortune to work for, but public safety has always been a priority for them. What follows from there you got to think about? How does the city manage the growth pressures that we're dealing with? What do we look like financially as far as having to rely less and less on property taxes? We are, by and large, a bedroom community, but we have a potential economic engine down in our beautiful Deerfield area, which, of course, is one of the things we're really looking forward to. You have to think about from a prioritization standpoint. What does that look like for the city? How do we leverage that best, maintain that sense of place but also turn that into an economic engine for its citizens?
Speaker 1:Which is very cool because I have noticed, since I've been here, the amount of community support that people showing up to the open houses to give their opinions and listen to the plans and find out what the options are is incredible.
Speaker 2:I agree, it's inspiring. Actually, people come out after working all day, showing up at these meetings at seven o'clock at night and giving that valuable input, and that's again, that's why we are what we are.
Speaker 1:Right and so with the input of the residents, I mean, how do you continue to encourage that? Because I know there are bigger plans for Milton, I know there are things going on and it's very exciting. How do you encourage residents and those who maybe have not engaged yet? How do you get them involved?
Speaker 2:I think the proof is kind of in the pudding there. If you invite people out, you have to use what they're telling you. You know you have to. They people have to feel that that that time, investment and and the mental energy they put into that means something. And I'm feel very comfortable that our community recognizes that their input is incredibly valuable and it it's not just words on a paper but it turns into plans that are executed later.
Speaker 2:As long as you continue that positive approach, I think people will continue to engage. Now, of course, if people start coming out and we don't take what they're saying and chart our future with the input we get back, then I think people will start losing faith, and that's something we need to focus on every day.
Speaker 1:Right. Their input is important. So you're talking about transparency and communication, which is ridiculously important in every aspect, internal and external, in Milton, and it was new to me to find out all the steps that are involved in keeping those lines of communication open, like the three open houses, the three public meetings. Are there other ways that we're keeping the community informed?
Speaker 2:I think effective communication is key, right, right, poor communication is at the root of families that fall apart and the root of wars that happen right. So effective communication is incredibly important to all the work that we do and I think, some of the things that our communications department, in conjunction with our public works, community development, parks and rec you can bring it even further than that. It really provides those various avenues. It's not just about showing up at the library for an input session. It's about responding to the many surveys we put out. It's about having your voice be heard. It's about getting involved, if you're in HOA, with your HOA and making sure that your community's voice is being heard so that we can provide the best possible services. Fortunately, that's working really well right now. I'm not saying there's not room for improvement. There's always room for improvement there, even internally. You know we're looking at how we can improve communications amongst Team Milton, but Creating the various avenues for meaningful communication, I think, is incredibly important.
Speaker 1:And encouraging people to utilize that, because a lot of people hear it, they don't participate, they may or may not like the outcomes I mean. So there's always trying to reach every person and give everybody the opportunity to participate and to be heard. I think is something that this team does incredibly well.
Speaker 2:Well, you're part of that team, so I couldn't agree with you more. But you know it is. They start to see when they do surveys. They start to see some of the free form work that they did in the responses and they see those now as appendices in the planning. So I mean, they see it and it builds that trust.
Speaker 1:It does. It does so with that. What's some ongoing or some upcoming projects in Milton that you're really excited about?
Speaker 2:All right, this is pretty cool. So the first thing we kind of touched on already. Destination Deerfield Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Deerfield area and we for for those listening, obviously it's bigger than Deerfield Parkway. It's that whole area of Deerfield Highway 9, morris, really all the way down from Windward to the city line and it's a great opportunity for us. Right now, the council has focused on that area. Okay, what can we do? A lot of that area was built out before we became a city, so we inherited generally what was there. We've had some nice development. Our community development has done an excellent job, but now we're talking about redevelopment, as opposed to a lot of the areas we were able to start with a blank slate. There we're talking about redevelopment and what does that look like?
Speaker 2:So I would say, primarily, one of the most exciting upcoming projects is the destination deer farm. In fact, I was in a meeting on it this morning. Projects is a destination deer fund. In fact I was in a meeting on it this morning and I'm excited to see what comes out of that, because I talked about a little bit about the economic drivers and the economic engine that could be. But some of the plans and some of the things we are getting back from our community and what people are seeking it's slowly going from. You know something that you really couldn't see into. It's now starting to form into an image of wow, what a cool place. This can be connected by trails and parks along the roadside and it just it could be something just really, really awesome.
Speaker 2:And you know, with that, you know, bring in the different types of building styles, right, and the streetsca we bring in the different types of building styles and the streetscapes and things along those lines and it's starting to form a picture and it's very exciting, and with that I'm actually going to jump on another one. So it's right, in that area it's our new active park which is going to be on Deerfield Parkway.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's terribly exciting.
Speaker 2:Incredible. For those of you who don't know, our city hall used to be right there on Deerfield Parkway and this is going to be right next door. And so exciting not only to be able to offer those recreational services to the citizens of Milton, but we're bringing it to our most populated area of the city where people can walk and bike over to these amenities that will be there and it's going to be 20, I think, around 22 acres. In fact we're in the process of picking up another three, so we'll be close to 25 acres when it's all said and done and we'll have baseball, diamonds, some rectangular fields for football, lacrosse, soccer, the playgrounds and a bunch of other amenities there for our citizens to really enjoy. And a park like that is also an economic driver. Of course People come to the games, you know.
Speaker 2:Of course They'll go out to lunch, they'll stop at the store and it just it becomes a very virtuous cycle. So we're really excited about that. I'm going to throw one more in Come on, kind of hit an exciting point. So the last one I just want to bring up is the district at Mayfield. People may not be as familiar with that because, well, we completed it last year. It's not necessarily where people see. Every day we're working with the landowners over there to build out what is really the southeast quadrant of our downtown Crabapple. And what an exciting thing that was. Our DRB really took the ball and ran with that. And it's really about we want to preserve some of the history over there, have that connection to our past. You know, something we've been talking about quite a bit.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Throughout this talk. It's the last quadrant we need to develop. I really turn that into something awesome and some of the preliminary plans I've seen already. Just, it's really going to round out our downtown and it's exciting to see that evolve as well.
Speaker 1:Well, that's really cool. It's exciting to see that evolve as well. Well, that's really cool. And it's important for everybody who's listening to know that a lot of this information, especially the Destination Deerfield information, can be found on our website. We do everything we can to keep updates posted. It goes out on our social, so if you're curious about any of these projects, take a look at the website. You can generally find the most recent update.
Speaker 2:That's great, I like to say that that's great, like you said that's a great thing to add.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so earlier you mentioned working with a talented staff. How would you describe the team culture and what qualities do you look for when building your team? Because we've talked a lot about external Milton, let's talk about internal.
Speaker 2:No, I appreciate everybody an idea? This is the team. Milton is very special. It's not just to me, it's to all of us. I don't want to throw out buzzwords like servant leadership, though that is a big part of the way we operate here to make sure that our staff's empowered to do the job that they do, and do so well.
Speaker 2:But I think, at the end of the day, it's about open collaboration, empowerment to be able to make the decisions that you need to make at the place you are, without having to go through some bureaucratic red tape to be able to get either the decision or the results you're seeking. It's about making sure that we're growing from the inside. I prefer to see promotions internally if we can help it. So I want to make sure we're creating the next bench, the next leaders, at every level of the organization, and that's why we have certain programs like-.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Emerging leaders. Emerging leaders which I think you're part of right. I am, I am.
Speaker 2:So those aren't just buzzwords. That is about making sure we're creating the best possible future for the city and we don't lose anything along the way. That doesn't mean someone from the outside can't bring in another great perspective. They can and they do, but we prefer to grow the talent internally, if we can.
Speaker 1:Right and it's important because you've got people who've experienced Milton and have a familiarity with a lot of things going on and I think people appreciate the opportunities that are here and they really what I'm learning is people work well together here.
Speaker 2:I'm glad to hear that. I hear that from your perspective. We try to give everybody enough room to be able to use their creativity, their intelligence and their drive to be able to do something different, and when you see that happen, it's really cool and we see it quite often yeah a lot of the best things we do, a lot of the, you know, most creative, innovative things we do come right out of the people that are out there doing it what if?
Speaker 1:what if we did this?
Speaker 2:and they do it what do you think?
Speaker 1:and it's, uh, it's, it's great to see so how do you approach partnerships and collaborations with local leaders or neighboring cities, because we're very tight on the border with a lot of cities and I know that say public safety has relationships out there. How do you collaborate and how do you develop those partnerships and what are those benefits?
Speaker 2:So, let's face it, there's still some spots along Highway 9, I'm not sure or Milton or Alpharetta, and even going over towards Arnold Mill between Milton and Roswell. It does become interesting and confusing. But I must say I was fortunate enough to come in to a collaborative environment, so when I got here we were already cross-sworn with all the Alpharetta police officers, and we've continued that to this day. Alpharetta police officers can respond anywhere in Milton, have full authority, just as a Milton police officer would, and vice versa. Wow.
Speaker 1:I did not know that.
Speaker 2:It's a tremendous value and you'll see quite often a Milton police officer and Alpharetta police officer on a call together and at the end of the day, it's about providing the best possible public safety. When someone's in crisis, they don't care what uniform they're wearing.
Speaker 2:So I came into that, which was fantastic and it was a great thing to build from. Our fire departments have now automatic aid with all our surrounding fire departments which, similar to what we just said once a few more things are in place. The closest fire engine, wherever it may be, is going to respond to the call. It may be a Milton fire truck, it may be an Alpharetta fire truck, it might be a Cherokee County fire truck, but the most important thing is to get the emergency personnel on the scene as quick as possible. Especially when you're talking about the fires, they grow exponentially in seconds on high acuity medical calls where seconds count.
Speaker 2:You have to have those paramedics who can intervene quickly strokes, heart attacks, things along those lines. It's incredibly important to have those types of cooperative, collaborative environment.
Speaker 2:And then there's heart attacks things along those lines. It's incredibly important to have those types of cooperative, collaborative environment. And then there's even money savings, taxpayer savings opportunities. A lot of people don't know that we share court facilities with the city of Alpharetta. We run court on some days, they run court on some days. Our very dynamic court clerk is able to manage both. She does a fantastic job and, as a result, dynamic court clerk is able to manage both. She does a fantastic job and, as a result, both Milton and Alpharetta citizens get to enjoy the tax savings by not supporting facilities that wouldn't have 100% utility.
Speaker 1:So let's jump a little bit. I know that you're busy and we've gotten a lot of information out of you, but I do really want to know you mentioned involvement from the residents. For residents who have yet to get involved, what is a good first step for them?
Speaker 2:Our Citizens Government Academy. That seems to be a launching point.
Speaker 1:Isn't that one coming up?
Speaker 2:I think we do, I think it begins in January actually that is a great jumping off point because it provides citizens with a full understanding operationally of what our various departments do. People love the Citizens Government Academy and then that becomes a launching point quite often for our boards and commissions. You start seeing some people like trails.
Speaker 2:They can move towards our trail committee. Some people enjoy the zoning aspect of it and they can either get involved with our Board of Z appeals or, if they're more planning type, planning commission. I mean it seems to be the point of entry for many. So if I didn't know much about the city, I would start there and our council members a lot of time. That's a fertile ground for them to find their appointees and I would attend a council meeting.
Speaker 1:If you never have, you need to go. You need to witness how this is done, because it is. It was like clockwork in there. Our city clerk does an amazing job managing those meetings and it is a learning opportunity, especially if you're not familiar with the processes that happen at a local level.
Speaker 2:Well, if you think about it, it could be very intimidating.
Speaker 1:Very.
Speaker 2:And the goal. Like I say, our council has always done a good job at this and they make them very welcoming. It's important because they listen to what people have to say. Sometimes it seems during public comment that someone makes the public comment and goes and sits down, but that's not really what occurs. We're taking notes on everything that is said there and most of the things that are said are actionable and they become the impetus of work that we're going to do.
Speaker 1:And those are recorded.
Speaker 2:They are.
Speaker 1:They are recorded. You can watch them all if you're you can if you ever get super curious, you can watch them, or we do a kind of a conclusion, a wrap up of it, and it gets posted on social. If you're ever interested in the points that were discussed and what the outcomes were at that time, yes, and you all do a really good way to gather some information and get a quick update as to what's being discussed and to see what may be coming down the pipeline for the next meeting.
Speaker 2:Agreed.
Speaker 1:So last question maybe If you could make one big change or improvement in Milton over the next year, what would it be and why?
Speaker 2:Let me put some of our strategic plan aside because that would be obviously my focus. I would have to say I'm being influenced by the work we're seeing down in Destination Deerfield and the amount of connectivity I'm seeing in the concept plans for cool trails and pocket parks and things like that for the community to be able to enjoy. I would love to be more connected that way and it's a little difficult when you have a lot of our roads that run across the city at 40-plus miles an hour. You don't want your kids crossing those and things like that.
Speaker 2:But I think, as we continue to slow down our speed limits and become more of a connected community, to slow down our speed limits and become more of a connected community, I'd really love to see some more of those trails and infrastructure allow people in a more multimodal type thing, you know, walk, bike. We're seeing a lot of golf carts around the Crabapple area now, Depending on what happens with Georgia Highway 9, we're hoping to see speed limits come down there and perhaps that could be an exciting area for those types of improvements. So yeah, I think that connectivity would be something I'd love to see.
Speaker 1:You know it's interesting because Milton is full of parks that you don't initially see. I was amazed, got a wonderful tour a while back and the amount of tucked in useful beautiful parks and trails and the equestrian availability at Birmingham is super unique. I encourage everybody to get on the website and see all the various areas you can go because they are fantastic. They are.
Speaker 2:Birmingham Park is an absolute jewel.
Speaker 1:Yep, and they just did that night hike. That was a raging success.
Speaker 2:I wanted to go, I had marshmallows and ready to go and everything, but unfortunately I got called away for other work.
Speaker 1:Oh, the duties of a city manager. Yes, yes, yes they got you, they got you. Okay, I lied earlier. This is your last question. Looking, looking ahead what's your vision for milton five to ten years down the road?
Speaker 2:again strategic plan aside and comp plan and I'm gonna get I'm bringing up a little bit more of a macro level, seeing the city being a thriving, well-connected city that still preserves Milton's charm. That is basically what our comp plan aims to do, absolutely, and that is what I want to see. And what I want to see is really immaterial, but I've always embraced our vision. It's one of the reasons I love being here, I love working here. It is that aspect that I'd like to hold on to Agreed Agreed.
Speaker 1:This is a super unique community and it welcomes connectivity.
Speaker 2:Agreed.
Speaker 1:So, steve, thank you so much for your time today. It has been incredibly insightful and I have learned a lot from the inside from you, and I know our listeners have gotten a different perspective, hopefully, from this conversation, and I hope that there are more. What I'd really like is for you to possibly host a couple, because I think you have the ability to have a conversation with other individuals. I have a couple in mind.
Speaker 2:I'd love to. My wife always said I had a voice for radio.
Speaker 1:I actually said I had a face for radio, which is worse.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I would love to Anytime we can get out there and really educate people and maybe engage them even more. It's a big part of what we do.
Speaker 1:I think this is our new outlet to really utilize and make some of those connections.
Speaker 2:Well, you're the reason we're doing this. So, thank you for bringing this new innovative approach to the city of Milton so excited about it.
Speaker 1:Okay, everyone, that's a wrap for this episode. A big thank you to our city manager, Steve Krokoff, for sharing his time and insights with us today. Stay tuned. We have more exciting episodes coming your way. We'd love to hear from you, so send us your feedback on who and what you'd like to hear about next. Thanks for listening to Milton and Maine. We hope this episode gave you fresh insights into what makes our city so special. Stay connected and don't miss an episode by subscribing to this podcast on your favorite platform and following us on social media for all updates. And, of course, if you want to learn more about the city, visit us online at wwwmiltongagov for resources, news and upcoming events. Until next time, thanks for being part of the conversation and we'll see you on the next Milton and Maine.