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Home My WebLink About115.003 - Letters - Procedures and FormattingEffective Date: August 2019 Leslie J. Oulashian, Management Analyst II Current Revision Date: 04/19/23 Section 115.003 Next Revision Date: 04/19/24 Page 1 of 5 Fresno City Fire Department 100 Administrative Manual SECTION 115.003 LETTERS – PROCEDURES AND FORMATTING PURPOSE The purpose of this procedure is to provide a standard format to be used for letters produced by the Fresno Fire Department (FFD or Department) when conducting City of Fresno (COF or City) business. APPLICATION This section intentionally left blank. OPERATIONAL POLICY Members will use FFD letterhead stationery which consists of plain white paper with the red FFD Maltese Cross in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of a document: OPERATIONAL GUIDELINE 1. Department Letterhead Template: The Department approved letterhead template contains the official red logo, and is used when sending letters to outside agencies, businesses, and /or citizens. a. Current letterhead templates and samples of correspondence are available to administrative support staff at All-Div > Formats & Info. Any edits or changes required to the template must be approved by the Fire Chief’s office. 2. Division Letterhead Template: Approved stationery templates, all of which have been specifically assigned and forwarded to respective administrative support staff and their division heads, include: Effective Date: August 2019 Leslie J. Oulashian, Management Analyst II Current Revision Date: 04/19/23 Section 115.003 Next Revision Date: 04/19/24 Page 2 of 5 • Fire Chief, Office of the Fire Chief • Deputy Chief, Operations Division • Deputy Chief, Prevention and Support Services Division • Deputy Chief, Training Division • Administrative Battalion Chief Personnel and Investigations Division • Administrative Battalion Chief, Special Operations • Administrative Battalion Chief, Training Division • Fig Garden Fire Protection District • Fresno Fire Chief’s Foundation 3. Document Signature: Correspondence should be signed by the appropriate division chief as follows: Division Document Signer Office of the Fire Chief Fire Chief Operations Division Deputy Fire Chief and/or Administrative Battalion Chief Training Division Deputy Fire Chief and/or Administrative Battalion Chief Personnel and Investigations Division Administrative Battalion Chief Prevention and Support Services Division Deputy Fire Chief and/or Administrative Battalion Chief Fig Garden Fire Protection District Fire Chief Fresno Fire Chief’s Foundation Fire Chief 4. Signature Ready Documents: Hard copy and/or electronic documents are forwarded to the appropriate division’s administrative support team for final preparation. Final preparation of a document includes integrating skill sets such as proof reading and spell checking; applying appropriate punctuation throughout; ensuring margins, spacing, and formatting are correct; ensuring calculations are correct; as well as various grammatical expertise to present a professional and signature ready document. Administrative support staff and document signers are responsible for accurate and appropriate execution of all correspondence. Effective Date: August 2019 Leslie J. Oulashian, Management Analyst II Current Revision Date: 04/19/23 Section 115.003 Next Revision Date: 04/19/24 Page 3 of 5 PROCESS 1. Formatting: a. Margins: Set margins at: Top: 1” Bottom: .7” Left: 1” Right: .7” 2. Font: Arial, regular 12 pt. 3. Justify/Full Block Style: Align text to left and right of margins throughout the document. 4. Spacing: Single space is used within the body of the letter. 5. Date: All correspondence is dated on the first and consecutive pages of a letter. a. First Page: The date is written two (2) blank lines below the logo as follows: April 14, 2023 b. Consecutive Pages: The date line is written in the header as detailed below in subsequent page headings. 6. Address: The spacing between the date and the address is written three (3) blank lines (four returns). If there is no mailing address, the spacing still applies. a. The address is written as follows: John Doe 1234 E. California Avenue Fresno, CA 93777 7. Salutation: The salutation is typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the address as follows: Dear John: 8. Subject Line: The subject line is identified as such using the term “SUBJECT” and is typed in all capital letters one (1) blank line (two returns) below the salutation. The word “SUBJECT” is followed by a colon, two (2) blank spaces, and then the subject contents typed in all Effective Date: August 2019 Leslie J. Oulashian, Management Analyst II Current Revision Date: 04/19/23 Section 115.003 Next Revision Date: 04/19/24 Page 4 of 5 capital letters. The SUBJECT line is short and concise, with no period at the end, as follows: SUBJECT: APPROVED TEMPLATES 9. Body: The body of the letter begins one (1) blank line (two returns) below the “SUBJECT” line. 10. Complimentary Close: The complimentary close is typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the last line in the body of the letter. 11. Signature Line: The signature line contains the name and title of the person signing the letter and is typed three (3) blank lines (four returns) below the complimentary close, as follows: Respectfully, Billy P. Alcorn, Interim Fire Chief BPA/amg Enclosure c: 12. Reference Initials: Reference initials are typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the signature line. Reference initials are separated by either a colon or a diagonal line. 13. Document Reference: Should a document reference be necessary; it is typed on the line immediately below the reference initials. 14. Enclosure: An enclosure notation is typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the reference initials. 15. Copy Notation: A copy (c:) notation is typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the enclosure notation. 16. Blind Copy: A blind copy (bc:) notation is typed one (1) blank line (two returns) below the copy notation on the file copy only. 17. Subsequent Page Headings: The second and subsequent page headings are typed in the header, at the left margin, and include the Effective Date: August 2019 Leslie J. Oulashian, Management Analyst II Current Revision Date: 04/19/23 Section 115.003 Next Revision Date: 04/19/24 Page 5 of 5 name of the person to whom the letter is addressed, the subject line, the date, and the page number, as follows: John Doe SUBJECT: APPROVE TEMPLATES April 14, 2023 Page 2 of 2 Whenever there are multiple persons to whom a letter is being addressed, list the name of the first person to whom the letter is being sent, then the name can be followed by a comma and the word “et al.” John Doe, et al. SUBJECT: APPROVE TEMPLATES April 14, 2023 Page 2 of 2 18. Second Page Header Separation: Two (2) blank lines (three returns) should separate the second and subsequent page heading and the continuation of the letter. 19. Plain White copy Paper: Plain with copy paper is used for all pages of a letter. INFORMATION Approved letterhead templates can be found at L:\All-Div\Formats&Info/Letter (Templates…). DEFINITIONS This section intentionally left blank. CROSS-REFERENCES James L. Clark and Lyn R. Clark, How 14, A Handbook for Office Professionals, 14th Edition, South-Western Cengage Learning, 2007.