InTouch – I Gave My HEART to These Customer Service Winners

Valentine’s Day is here in a few days, and you know what really warms my heart? HEART!

Yes, it’s that constant devotion you all show to exceptional customer service, summed up in those letters, that makes me so proud to work at the County. You show helpfulness, expertise, attentiveness, respect and timeliness in so many ways. A lot of notes and other feedback from customers get passed along to me, describing what a great experience you’ve provided. It always makes my day.

I see the amazing work you do, and I want you to know that it’s recognized at the highest levels of the County. To do that, I began an annual award called HEART of Service a few years back.

Recently, in front of all department leaders, I announced our latest set of winners. In each of these cases, there was an issue that involved very large teams. I’m not going to give individual shoutouts, but everyone who had a hand in these deserves our admiration and appreciation.

E. Coli Response at the Fair

The County Fair in Del Mar has been a local favorite for generations of families. So it was a shock to all San Diegans when several cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, including one child’s death, were traced to the fair’s animal areas. County staff from Environmental Health and Public Health worked tirelessly on their respective investigations, inspections, testing, guidance and communication. They cooperated with fair officials, state and federal agencies, and each other. This team’s efforts contained a tragic situation and prevented what had the potential to turn into a much broader health threat.

Temporary Shelter for Asylum-Seeking Immigrants

The surge of migrants seeking asylum at our border led to a situation where many needed temporary shelter in San Diego. A network of nonprofits found a location, and the County began providing, then later expanded, health services. But before long, the nonprofits needed a new shelter. The County offered and then had to prepare one of its vacant properties downtown. It was quite a scramble, but it got done, thanks to incredible work from staff at General Services, the Fire Authority and Environmental Health. The team brought stability to the asylum seekers themselves and to a situation that was politically charged.    

Purchasing & Contracting Tiger Team

We spend $1.3 billion a year buying goods and services. Besides maximizing value to us, we want that money to have a positive impact on the local economy. We put together a team to take a hard look at how our procurement operates. They reviewed our process, got feedback from hundreds of internal and external customers, and studied other governments. From that they put together dozens of recommendations meant to simplify the process, get more businesses involved, and ensure compliance. Many of the recommendations we’ve already put into practice and more are on the way.

These award winners involved projects that were more high-profile, so they tended to grab my attention. But as big as they were, they represent just a tiny fraction of the activities we undertook as a County. I constantly receive emails, notes and voicemails from our customers relaying their thanks for the positive experiences. I want to single out a handful of those.

For example, a woman was in tears over her future in the medical field when she went to our Fresh Start Program offices. Fresh Start helps people with criminal histories clear their records. She’d been told the process was expensive and difficult. Public Defender staff met with her and got her through it. From her note:

“I could not have gotten this job without your help in regard to my criminal history. As Thanksgiving and the holidays roll around, there are a lot of things I am grateful for and one of them is you and your team for diligently working on getting my history cleaned up. For the longest time, I thought it would be impossible for me to move forward in my life with my past criminal history but for the first time in a long time, I see so many possibilities and opportunities for me.”

Changing the course of someone’s life. Pretty awesome!  

Another customer praised a member of our Planning & Development Services staff.

“I feel compelled to take a minute to say how pleased and impressed we are with Planning & Development Services, Denise Russell. Denise has been one of the most responsive and forward-thinking planners we have ever had the pleasure to work with.”

I also frequently check our Positive Experiences section on InSite. Like this one that caught my eye about Human Services Specialist Jacqueline Feliciano.

“Jacqueline provided the best customer service ever, she actually went out of her way to call me and let me know she could answer all my questions and figure out my case, and she did!”

Best ever! That’s what HEART aims for, and it’s gratifying to see us so often hit that mark.

The countless interactions and individual acts of HEART large and small are all deserving of applause. My congrats and appreciation to the award winners and to everyone who keeps our customers first and foremost in everything we do.  

P.S. Speaking of heart and Valentine’s Day, our annual Love Your Heart blood pressure screening event is this Friday. There are hundreds of places in the region and beyond to get checked, including a number of County work sites. Take a few minutes to know your numbers and help us make this year’s event the biggest ever.