General supervisor turns to motivational speaker when Friday hits

CHESAPEAKE

Push away from your desk. Stand to your feet. Come out of your office. Come out of your work space. // Look to your left, and look to your right. // Give your coworker or your friend a high-five. // "Because today... is... T... G... I... F," Melvin Wiggins says, doing his best impression of a boxing ring announcer.

They are the Friday morning words that City Hall can't do without, delivered by the deep voice of the city worker who will be hunted down if he doesn't say them by 8:45 a.m.

Wiggins is the general supervisor at City Hall - in other words, the guy who gets called if things aren't working right at 306 Cedar Road. But nearly every Friday for the last year and a half, Wiggins has also taken on the role of motivational speaker, broadcasting his weekly TGIF address to all corners of the building.

Now, city workers count on it. They wait for it. They come looking for Wiggins if they don't hear it.

"It's not Friday if Melvin doesn't say it," said Rick Cole, assistant to the mayor.

It all started when Wiggins, an Army reservist and drill sergeant, returned to City Hall in 2006 after a year of training military police recruits in Missouri.

Wiggins, who has worked for the city since the early 1990s, said he "didn't feel that 100 percent motivation feeling" among employees he encountered in the hallways.

Wiggins, 55, said he was still in "military mode." He was still running every morning, still the drill sergeant who had a way of getting young recruits moving at 5 a.m.

"It just came to me one day," he said.

Stand to your feet. Look to your left, and look to your right.

Wiggins figures his words were inspired by military formation.

He remembers his first intercom address. Not long after, City Manager William Harrell showed up at the door to his office off the city's loading dock. Harrell was accompanied by the human resources director and another top official.

"I thought I was about ready to lose my job," Wiggins said.

Instead, Harrell pumped his fist. "I like that," he said.

Wiggins has also been joined by Mayor Alan Krasnoff, who has introduced the address twice.

But the speech is the biggest hit with the city's rank-and-file.

"It's like a reminder: You've only got to do this for a few more hours," said Human Resources technician Pat Hemingway, who said the address always seems to come at just the right time.

On Friday, that time was

8:30 a.m. Wiggins got a bottle of water before he began. With both hands, he bent the brim on his hat like he was getting ready for the big game. Then he went for the phone.

He likes to improv. Sometimes, he'll throw in a line from a song, like "Let Me Clear My Throat" from the hip-hop artist DJ Kool. Sometimes, he'll give a preview address on Thursday or an extra send-off on Friday afternoon. Wiggins said he wants the speech to create excitement and pull people from the exhaustion of working a whole week.

"I can't say we all jump up and do high-fives, but in our minds we are," said Margaret Falk, an office specialist in the planning department.

In the real estate assessor's office, employees follow Wiggins' instructions. If you look up and down the office's long hallway, workers say, you can see hands sticking out from cubicles and office doors during the address.

"It's like the Macarena," said Avis Fowler, an appraisal clerk.

Appraisal analyst David Jones joked that Wiggins' address actually cuts down on Friday absenteeism at City Hall. People want to show up early so they don't miss it, he said.

"I wish you would do it on Mondays, too," account clerk Kathy Jones told Wiggins.

"That's the third time someone's asked me that," he said.

Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com