COVID-19 Doesn't Slow LUEG Customer Service
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Customer service; It’s what we do — the HEART of our Customer Experience Initiative.
And it’s a tribute to all our County employees that customer service wasn’t slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic, with social distancing and limits on public gathering, has been a challenge. But County employees recognized it as a customer service opportunity.
Here are just a few examples of ways some of our Land Use & Environment Group departments have ratcheted up customer service to meet that opportunity.
Expanding Technology
Planning & Development Services live-streamed San Diego County Planning Commission meetings before the pandemic. But to protect the public and enable them to participate, PDS instituted a phone-call system for public comments. In addition, they started video-taping and posting Planning Commission presentations online a few days before the meetings. That allowed the public time to watch those presentations at home and not have to worry about missing information if their Internet connections are interrupted during the meeting.
In addition, PDS extended virtual meetings for Code Compliance appeal hearings and piloted them for some building code inspections. Public Works used Skype and Microsoft Teams to do virtual watershed protection, flood control and recycling meetings.
PDS also increased online services to help customers access services and stay safe. Those included online zoning verification requests, building permit modification requests, building plan check and permit renewals, electronic discretionary pre-applications, and discretionary permit digital approval processing.
The Agriculture, Weights and Measures department conducted virtual field inspections. And Parks and Recreation offered a virtual recreation center for students, complete with virtual tours, hikes, education and more.
Summer Movies in the Park — at Home and Beyond!
DPR is planning to offer a hybrid version of the popular Summer Movies in the Park series this summer to accommodate all comfort levels DPR will be offering virtual movies as we did in 2020 and will transition into drive-in and traditional live events that meet all health and safety guidelines.
Virtual Earth Day Celebration
San Diegans love the outdoors and the County’s annual Earth Day celebration gives residents more than a dozen ways to celebrate. The LUEG team banded together last year in 2020 and again this year, 2021, to build a web page full of games, virtual experiences, educational videos and live online events.
The celebration featured Facebook live videos that let people talk with park rangers, learn how to plant a tree, or about birds of prey, reptiles and snakes, or about clean air and clean energy. There were Earth Day related coloring books, word-scramble games, puzzles and videos. Visitors could learn about what the County is doing about climate change and reducing greenhouse gases. There were virtual scavenger hunts, hikes and tours. It was, in all, a celebration!
Again, these are just a few examples of how LUEG employees met the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. No surprise. They did it with HEART.
Remember that our Customer Experience Initiative website is a resource for you. You can get information on training, find a printable HEART job aid and review our Journey to a Positive Experience.