Introducing InService: Video Profiles of County Employees

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

County Team,

In these messages, I’ve often talked about the variety of work we do here at the County. Well, let’s do one better. I want to start showing you.

Today we’re debuting the first in what will be a series of video profiles of County employees. The idea is to feature one person a week. They’ll be short, with each employee sharing a little bit about themselves and what they do.

Keeping with our InSite, InTouch, internal theme, we’re calling the series InService. It also captures the fact that everything you’re doing is in service of our customers.

We’ve gotten feedback before that many of you would like to see what employees in different roles do. Here you go! Our plan is to keep these going through at least the end of the year, giving us a good sampling of the many jobs at the County.

I’m really looking forward to seeing these myself. As I work on big initiatives, strategy, budgets, I know they turn into reality only through the combination of all the individual efforts you’re making. This is an opportunity to highlight a few of those pieces that make up the whole.

And an important note: I know very well you’re all part of teams. Picking one person at a time makes for more relatable storytelling, but these are meant to be in celebration of everyone who makes the County work. Thank you for everything you do.

Let’s get started. Our first profile is from our Public Safety Group. I’ll let her introduce herself.

Enjoy!

InTouch - Breaking New Ground in Engaging Our Residents

A groundbreaking marks a beginning. We’ll hold one tomorrow for the Southeastern Live Well Center, signaling the start of construction on the 65,000-square-foot hub for health and social services.

However, this ceremony will really be more a milestone in a long, extensive process to bring these resources to this neighborhood. The degree to which we’ve worked with the community to get to this point is unprecedented for the County. 

It’s been about six years since we first had the vision for putting an array of services under one roof in this historically underserved area. The fact that we saw benefits to the project was only part of the equation, though. As good as our intentions were, we didn’t want the County to simply come in and impose that vision – it had to be the result of collaborating with the people who call that neighborhood home. We are building their center.    

From the outset, we have sought and incorporated community members’ input on virtually every aspect of the project. We’ve held outreach meetings to hear what specific services they needed, get feedback on the building’s design, and have them weigh in on colors and photo murals. Since it’s within the city of San Diego, we’ve worked closely with their officials and staff.   

The investment in the neighborhood extends to hiring local businesses for construction. The County recently announced the selection of two subcontractors from the area, and there’s another contract fair in a couple weeks.  

While I’m recognizing these accomplishments, I’m also sharing them as an example of the direction our entire organization is headed. Everyone should note that the depth of community involvement we had in this process will become much more typical of how we operate. Most projects won’t be on this scale. But the commitment to creating services not just for our residents, but with them, is where we are taking our business. It will require new levels of outreach, ongoing engagement, and understanding of people’s concerns and needs. That’s especially true when helping San Diegans who face entrenched inequities and have had less opportunity to shape their own futures.   

The team that’s worked on the Live Well Center will tell you it’s a ton of effort. They’ll also tell you it’s worth it to come up with a County presence that’s not just accepted but welcomed. 

Let me offer a big shoutout to the many, many employees who’ve had a hand in this project. We can all celebrate this moment and look to it as a model of how we’ll better serve our residents through partnership with them. 

CAO Message: Happy Employee Appreciation Day!

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

I try to take every opportunity I can to say thanks for all you do. I say it again here, but since it’s Appreciation Day, I also want to emphasize that fuller meaning of appreciate. That I’m really conscious of the value you bring to our organization and to the people we serve. I may not know the details of each individual job, but I can see the results of your collective efforts and appreciate – I do understand – what a ton of work it is.

And I know it’s been a very tough year. Again, I may not know everyone’s individual challenges, but I do appreciate that each of you has had challenges of some measure.

The need to adapt is going to continue. We have a new Board of Supervisors, and they are very actively moving the County in new directions. That could mean subtle changes for some of you, more dramatic for others.

I appreciate that, as you so often hear, change is hard. We’re a big ship, and rapidly putting it on a new course isn’t easy. All throughout the pandemic you’ve been asked to adapt and adapt again, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your tremendous flexibility and resourcefulness. Seeing those traits also gives me confidence that you’ll display them again as we bring new policies to life. Change is hard but also exciting, giving us new opportunities for growth and innovation.

I appreciate how hard it’s been acting in isolation so much of the time this past year. We’re social creatures, we feed off each other’s energy. Teams and Zoom are fine for what they are, but they can’t replace activities in person.

The good news is that the combination of growing vaccination numbers and dropping case numbers points to the possibility of resuming on-site work. It’s still too early to talk any kind of timeline. And everything won’t go back exactly how it once was. I also don’t expect it to happen overnight. Things will be phased in, and we’ll do it safely.

But we can start to think about it. I miss office camaraderie, and I know many of you do as well. More importantly, many of us miss the ability to work directly with the public. We’re in a people business. The feeling of connection that comes from real-life interactions helps us fulfill our mission. Our renewed commitment to equity means doing more to build relationships and being closer to our communities. Meeting people where they are – literally – will help make those efforts more successful.

Buuuuut – not quite yet. Let me add to things I appreciate: your patience. A few times it looked like we might be approaching an exit from pandemic mode, then have had to keep going. I get how frustrating it’s been. I appreciate you continuing to stretch that patience for what I hope won’t be too much longer.

You’ve had to help our residents through a crisis like none they’ve ever faced, all while living through it yourselves. I’ve always appreciated your work and felt so proud to be part of this organization, but that’s only grown this year. Unprecedented times means unprecedented appreciation on my part. Thank you, today and always, for everything you do.

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. 

InTouch - Know What’s New with This Year’s Elections

If you’re like me, you’re looking forward to new challenges in 2020. And nothing we face this year may be more high profile and challenging than running elections: a presidential primary in March, then the general election in November.

You might ask, what’s the big deal? We run elections all the time, right?

This year is different. There’s a lot that’s new. It’s really going to help us if all employees are aware of the changes. Even if you’re not directly lending a hand, you can spread the word to anyone you know.   

First of all, as I mentioned, the primary is in March. California moved the date three months earlier than it has been. That means the million and one logistical steps that go into planning an election all had to slide up earlier. Our Registrar’s team has already been working hard on preparations for months.

Perhaps the biggest, most consequential change: anyone can now register or re-register to vote on Election Day at any polling location. Registering after the traditional deadline is what’s known as conditional voter registration. We had that in 2018, but only at the Registrar’s office. You may remember lines wrapped around the building there on Election Day. Now it will be anywhere you can vote. You can help us out by registering early and going to your assigned polling place, but we know many voters will take advantage of the new flexibility, and we need to prepare for it.

For anyone who goes to a polling place, it will almost certainly mean a longer wait than you’re used to. Help get that message out there to family and friends. If you used to drop by the polling place on your way to work, you probably won’t be in and out as quickly. Schedule your day accordingly.

To help relieve the potential backup, we’re rolling out another first for the County: four satellite voting locations that will open for the weekend before the election. Our Registrar’s office has had early voting for years, but that meant a trip to Kearny Mesa. These satellite offices will make it much more convenient for people all around our big county. We’ll announce exact locations in the coming weeks.

Of course, you can avoid any travel with a mail ballot, and there’s a new incentive to sign up if you haven’t already. This year, our mail ballots will come with an “I Voted” sticker! Many people said that was one of the reasons they still went to a polling place. No need anymore.

One thing that’s not new but important to note about the presidential primary. Each political party makes the rules on who can vote in its primary – and the rules are different from one party to another. This is especially important for anyone registered nonpartisan, as nearly a third of all San Diegans are. They may not be able to vote for the presidential candidate they want. Please know the rules. Urge anyone you know who’s voting to learn the rules.

You may wonder why I’m talking about all this in January and not closer to the election. It goes along with another of our big messages: act early. We need people checking and verifying their registration now. If they’re not registered, register now. Make sure they know the primary rules now. Get signed up for a mail ballot now, then fill it out and send it in as soon as you can.

Even as we tell everyone to act promptly, we have to prepare ourselves for the fact it will take weeks after election night to get final results. That’s been the case for a while. That same-day, conditional registration adds another hurdle to getting through all the ballots. Expanding voter options is great, but they all take time, and we all need to expect that.

Many of you have volunteered as poll workers in the past, and we’ll be asking for your help again. In fact, we’re hoping to get even more of you signed up than ever – about 1,000 employees. With conditional voter registration, we’re adding one poll worker to each of the County’s 1,548 polling places. Here are more details and the application form. You’ll need your supervisor’s approval. It would be a big help, and it’s exciting being part of the process.

Elections are the foundation of our democracy, and they’re a weighty responsibility we’re entrusted to carry out. Our Registrar, Michael Vu, and his entire staff have done an outstanding job managing one election after another. Their commitment to fairness and accuracy makes us all proud. They’re having the bar raised for them again, and, especially with all our help, I have every confidence they’ll rise to the challenge. 

P.S. While I’m talking about volunteering for high-profile issues, the region’s annual count of people experiencing homelessness is tomorrow morning. County employees have become a backbone of this effort, which helps us both get resources and decide how to direct them. Thanks in advance to everyone who has signed up and will be out there bright and early.

InTouch – Acting Now for Future Generations

I bet you have a lot to do today. Lots of things that need your attention right now.

But running a government responsibly is not just about helping people today. It means operating and making decisions so our successors are able to help them decades from now.

That’s the essence of the word sustainability. If the term seems squishy, here’s a common definition: using only enough resources for this generation so we leave enough for the next generation to meet their own needs.

Well, that could mean a lot of things. And it does.

For one, it’s the same concept that drives our fiscal discipline, which is all about setting up a spending plan that won’t leave us short down the road.

But we tend to more than dollars. Most often when we talk about sustainability, we’re referring to the environment and our use of natural resources. Those are areas where the County has been taking action in a variety of ways for some time, in many cases long before we began grouping them under the term sustainability.

In recent years, those efforts have taken on urgency as the consequences of climate change have become more apparent. The threat means we need to take an array of concrete steps to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Our strategy for rising to that challenge is our Climate Action Plan, passed by the Board of Supervisors last year. It lays out more than two dozen measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decade and beyond.

This week we release our Climate Action Plan’s first Annual Report showing the progress we’ve made toward hitting those goals. That’s a snapshot, but the work is, of course, ongoing. We’ve also just created a Climate Action Plan website that will continually show progress updates and help us share the details of what we’re doing with the public. I hope you’ll take a look yourself.

The Climate Action Plan, or CAP, builds on several programs and frameworks the County has adopted over time related to sustainable practices, such as the General Plan, the Multiple Species Conservation Plan, and plans to address energy use, waste reduction, food systems and hazard mitigation. Many of you have been involved with creating and implementing these various plans. 

These efforts can all be grouped into a few broad areas: our own buildings and operations, things we do for the unincorporated area we oversee, and practices we promote for the public and employees. Let me give a few examples.

For us, sustainability starts at home, so to speak. All new County buildings must be zero net energy, meaning they produce at least as much energy as they consume through solar or other renewable energy sources. Libraries we’ve built in Alpine, Imperial Beach and Borrego Springs the last few years are zero net energy and examples of our buildings of the future.  And new buildings must be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. We have 81 LEED buildings already, with 33 of those at the highest level – Platinum.

We have several projects in the works adding solar to County facilities that together may reduce our entire electricity demand by 20 percent. Around our buildings, we’re putting in more drought-tolerant landscaping – one of the ways we’re cutting how much water we use. We’re transitioning our fleet – the cars and trucks employees use – to cleaner fuels and technology, with 40 electric cars in service and more on the way.

In the community, we’ve made solar permitting for homes fast and simple, offering an online process. More than 38,000 homes in the County’s unincorporated area now have rooftop solar.

We have a CAP goal to plant 14,000 trees by next year and are nearly there already. We’re well beyond our goal of acquiring land for conservation, picking up 2,200 acres last year alone. We’re working with residents to update community plans in ways that reduce the need for driving.

And we help residents with steps they can take to cut greenhouse gas emissions. To keep waste out of landfills, we teach people how to compost, give businesses guides on reducing food waste, and provide recycling bins to schools and apartments.

As is often the case when I give examples of things we’re doing, I’m only scratching the surface.

There are all the things we can do as individuals to help as well. Cutting out car trips is a big one. Remember the County reimburses the cost of many transit passes. MTS Free Ride Day is coming up Oct. 2, so consider giving it a try.

Compost if you can. I bet that was a key for some of our colleagues who recently showed off their gardening skills.

Around the home or workplace, remember the basics: turn off lights when you’re not using them, and don’t let water run unnecessarily. It all adds up. You’ll find more ideas on the Take Climate Action section of the CAP website.

We’re also becoming increasingly aware of the public health risks linked to climate change. Hotter conditions and drought leave us more susceptible to wildfires and the smoke that can blanket the region, posing a danger to people with respiratory and other chronic conditions. Climate change means habitat change, so that the region becomes more hospitable to mosquitoes and other disease carriers.

Those relationships between public health and sustainability will be among the items on the agenda at next month’s Live Well Advance. The annual meeting brings together our partners who share the vision of a region that’s healthy, safe and thriving. I’ve tried to convey here how sustainability runs through many things we do. And it is woven into the Live Well San Diego vision that we all play a part in realizing.  

InTouch – Free and Fun, Thanks to the County

Summer is here! Many County employees are taking days off, spending time with kids on break from school, hosting out of town guests, or simply enjoying all San Diego has to offer.

But keeping yourself and others entertained... well, the costs can add up. We know it’s a common concern because for the last few years, we’ve put a story called 31 Free Things to Do in July, or variations on that, on our County News Center, and it’s always one of the most popular pieces of the year.

We’ve brought it around again: a list of 100+ events and activities the County puts on at various venues. There really is something for everybody.

I thought I’d share a few things from this year’s list. One, because you’re like any members of the public, looking for fun and interesting things to do.

Two, I wanted to point out that this is one more example of the phenomenal variety of opportunities the County provides. This is a handful of activities from one month – a mere sliver of what we offer all over, all year round. Much of it is no cost, outside of modest parking fees in some cases. So, for starters:

We celebrate the Fourth of July in a few days. San Diego’s biggest fireworks show takes place over the bay, and one of the prime spots to watch is our Waterfront Park. For the more adventurous, that night the County is also hosting a combination of fireworks viewing and stargazing with a Star Party at Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve. 

Catch a performance of a Japanese storytelling tradition called kamishibai at the Lakeside Library on July 17 or the Vista Library July 18.

On July 18, you can picnic with goats at Los Penasquitos Ranch House. Wha-a-a-a-at? Yes, meet Nubian goats while learning about local ranch life in the 1800s.

Kids love stories. Kids love water. They can enjoy both at a Baby Splish Splash, an outdoor story time and water play activity at the Rancho Santa Fe Library July 10 and 24.

Time to get growing. Take Vegetable Gardening 101 at the La Mesa Library July 27, taught by a master gardener (that’s also a program the County sponsors).

The series goes well beyond July, but the month includes several showings from Summer Movies in the Park. We and local cities team up for this hugely popular event each year that hits every corner of the county. Families can enjoy entertainment for all ages, in beautiful outdoor settings, at no cost. 

How about a whole family-friendly expo with music and activities? That’s part of the County’s Live Well San Diego 5K and Kids 1-mile Fun Run, July 28 at the Waterfront Park. Don’t think you have to be a runner to come down and have a good time. I hope one way or another you’ll join this celebration that embodies our vision of a region that’s healthy, safe and thriving. 

If summer gives you a chance to take it easy, great, please enjoy it to the fullest. But all these activities – and again, this is just a tiny sample – should show you that for some of our County colleagues, this is a busy season. Each one of these takes multiple, many even, people to make it happen. I appreciate the hard work of everyone involved to offer San Diegans, our employees included, such a rich variety of opportunities for fun and growth. 

One other event this month to note: As part of Pride weekend in San Diego, we’ll be lighting the CAC in rainbow colors. On July 11, we’ll host a community celebration outside the building to kick it off. It will be a highly visible sign of our commitment to serving all our residents and providing a welcoming environment to all our employees.

Take a look at the Free Things article, and let that be a jumping off point to even more County events. Whether you’re taking advantage of what the County is offering, or busy helping offer it – and of course, you could be doing some of both – I wish you all a safe and enjoyable summer!

InTouch – Mapping Your Career Path at the County

The County does an incredible variety of things. And it takes a pretty vast variety of job positions to get them done.

As you move through your professional life, you can find a lot of opportunities for growth and new challenges while remaining in the County. In fact, we really encourage it and want to help you get there. The County can be a career, not just a job.

I mentioned in the recent Who We Are profile of our workforce that about 2,000 employees were promoted last year. That’s 2,000 existing staff re-energized by taking on new responsibilities. And it’s 2,000 times we didn’t have to bring someone onboard from outside and get them up to speed on County culture and procedures. That works out for all of us. 

Where is a next stepping stone from where you are now? Or if you have your eyes set on a particular job, how do you get there?

There’s no single way to move from position to position. But there are some suggested career paths you can follow.

Our Human Resources department has laid out over two dozen of these paths. For clerical work, IT, law enforcement, social work and many more. They show what would be typical next steps up or lateral moves from a current position.

They’re a great tool, but again, those are suggested. They can be adapted, and we all wind up making our own ways. To give you some real world examples of what’s possible, we asked a few employees who have held multiple County jobs to share their paths with us.

Mavette Sadile, now with the County Technology Office, has quite a history here – especially for someone still on the early side of her career. Here’s her path:

Junior Clerk, HHSA -> Intermediate Clerk Typist, HHSA -> Payroll Clerk, HHSA -> Senior Payroll Clerk, HHSA -> ERP Specialist, HHSA -> ERP Analyst, Human Resources -> ERP Analyst, Auditor & Controller -> Departmental Technology Systems Specialist, Treasurer-Tax Collector -> IT Contract Manager, County Technology Office

“I had no idea how big the County was as an organization or the vast job opportunities it offered when I started working at the County 18 years ago,” Mavette said. “I was very fortunate to have had co-workers and supervisors along my journey who supported my professional goals, shared their lessons learned, and gave career advice and insights.”

Jiri Rutner is with the Health and Human Services Agency – again!

Human Services Specialist, HHSA Eligibility -> Administrative Analyst, Public Works -> Administrative Analyst II, Behavioral Health Services, first as Contract Analyst, then Program Analyst ->  Procurement Contracting Officer, Purchasing & Contracting -> Program Coordinator, Behavioral Health Services

“One of my favorite things about working for the County of San Diego is that things are often more complicated than they seem,” Jiri said. “Unintended consequences are an integral part of what we do, and for me that leads to an exciting and dynamic work environment.”

Nadia Moshirian Binderup recently started with the Sheriff’s Department. Here’s how she got there:

Intern, Board of Supervisors -> Legislative Aide, Board of Supervisors -> Policy Advisor, Office of Strategy and Intergovernmental Affairs ->  CAO Staff Officer, Community Services Group -> Community Relations Director, Sheriff’s Department

“My previous roles with the County provided me great insight on policy development and operations while understanding the significance of cross-functional threading – all while helping me get exposed to the ‘big picture’ of the County enterprise,” Nadia said. 

Thanks Nadia, Jiri and Mavette for sharing your stories. I think it’s helpful to see some actual cases and important to note the paths are not always along neat lines.

Whether it’s a mapped career path or one of your own, HR offers a lot of resources to help you move along it. Most positions take a number of “soft skills.” We provide regular trainings in areas like managing up, giving presentations, facilitating discussions, customer service and more.

There are also trainings focused on the hiring process itself. Resume writing. Interviewing techniques. Taking Civil Service exams.

For all these trainings, you can search the LMS or keep an eye out for the regular professional development emails sent to all employees.

Your annual performance review is an ideal time to sit down with your supervisor, discuss your development and goals, and together come up with a career path plan that makes sense for you.

Some of the most important advice I can give you is to seek out and talk to a variety of people. Ask employees in positions you want to be in how they got there. Get in touch with your department’s HR rep and go over possibilities. Ask managers and executives what they look for when moving people up. Our leaders welcome opportunities to provide their expertise and guidance to you. They like to see employees ready to step up. 

So do I. I think constantly about how we make sure the County as a whole keeps stretching itself. We’ll have a lot more success with that when employees are looking ahead at how they can improve and expand their contributions. I hope you’ll take advantage of the development opportunities we have, and I look forward to us all growing together.

InTouch - Who We Are

It’s important to know our customers. And since we need to serve our fellow employees every bit as well as we do the public, we also need to know our colleagues. You know many individually. But as a group, who are we, what do we look like?

Our County team is around 17,000 strong, and as you’d expect with that many people, we’re a varied bunch.

Sometimes it might seem like a lot of employees have been here a long time, and of course, many have. But the numbers show that’s not the whole story. Last year, 1,451 employees joined the County from the outside (welcome!). Everything is new to them – from their daily duties to understanding our culture.

Roughly another 2,000 existing employees were promoted (congratulations!). That’s almost 3,500 people in new positions. That’s a lot of learning, a lot of people who need help getting into their roles so they can be successful. 

In fact, nearly 6,000 of us have been here under five years! If you’ve been around for a while and are ever tempted to think something is common knowledge, remind yourself how new many of our colleagues are. Help them along. If you’re new, don’t be afraid to ask about things. We know there’s a lot to pick up. 

A handful are really in it for the long haul. Fourteen employees have been here 40 years or more, with our longest-serving worker at 47 years!

Our workers range from 20 to 83 years old, with an average age of 44. The average for the national workforce is about 42. So we’re a touch older, but not much.  

You can expect some of the next generation to come from those who are now student workers. We had 391 last year. Our District Attorney’s Office had the highest number of any department: 93.

We tilt pretty heavily female. Our workforce is 59 percent women, and it’s been that way for a while. County jobs don’t mirror those of society at large. We have a lot of positions in fields that tend to disproportionately draw women.

Our largest age group is 27-40 years old, approximately the range we know as millennials, aka Gen Y. They make up about 41 percent of our workforce. They’ve nosed ahead of the next group, those 41-56, roughly Gen Xers, who are just over 39 percent. Then Boomers, 57-73, still make up about 15 percent. The incoming Gen Z, people up to age 26, are already 5 percent. We still have a few Silent Generation members, 74 years old and up, on the job. We’ve talked pretty extensively about some of the differences, but it’s really exciting to get to work with people across five generations. We can learn so much from each other.

Racial/ethnic identities can get quite complex, but at a high level, here’s how we break down and how that compares to the San Diego region at the last census: 0.6 percent American Indian/Native American (compared to 0.5 percent in San Diego overall). Nearly 19 percent Asian or Pacific Islander (vs. 12 percent locally). Almost 8 percent black/African American (to 4.6 percent of San Diegans). 32.6 percent Hispanic/Latino (vs. 28.3 percent of residents). And just over 40 percent are white (vs. 54.5 percent regionally).  

Almost 2,000 of our County employees are sworn officers. That includes Sheriff’s personnel, Probation officers, District Attorney investigators.

In recent years we’ve worked harder to get veterans of the armed forces to join us, and they now make up 6.6 percent of our employees. We thank them for their service and for continuing to serve the public with us.

That’s a quick snapshot of our employees as a whole and some indication of the diversity within our County team. But only some indication. We’re diverse in all kinds of ways we don’t gather statistics for: where we’re from, the culture our families shared with us, our beliefs, our challenges, our passions, and the whole gamut of life experiences. We fall into many different categories that make each of us unique and interesting. And when we bring our individual talents and backgrounds together, it makes exciting teams!

Looking at these numbers is fun but also has a purpose. I share them to help us better understand our fellow employees, so we might serve each other, and in turn the public, better. Because regardless of all these other groups we may be a part of, it’s the qualities we bring to our jobs that really define us at the County. Respectful, attentive, compassionate, hardworking public servants – that's who we are. 

InTouch – Happy New Era!

Happy New Year!  Are you ready to roll?

I hope so, because this new year kicks off a new era at the County. On January 7, two new members will be sworn in to our Board of Supervisors. Welcoming two at one time is a first for me and all but the most veteran County employees. It’s been 24 years since two new board members were sworn in!

When I say a new era, I’m talking not only about the current board transition, but the practice of regular turnover in elected leadership since term limits are in place. The maximum time an elected official can serve as a supervisor is two terms. So our culture must adapt to continuous change.

New elected leadership means new policies and more dynamic shifts in priorities. Our successes of the past will be the foundation for the successes of the future. Old ways of doing things may be reviewed, tweaked or maybe even discarded.  And new ideas and initiatives will be implemented. 

Where we direct our energies might shift. But who we are won’t. We’ll remain dedicated to exceptional public service and the principles of HEART. We’ll demand the highest ethical standards. We’ll encourage innovation and continuous improvement in all areas of our operations.  We’ll be outcome driven and expect excellence in all that we do. 

Over the past several decades, we’ve never stood still, and we’ve shown great flexibility in responding to new demands. Now we’ll need to step it up and be even more nimble than we’ve ever been, as individuals and as an organization.

Our new supervisors and their staffs have an adjustment to make as well. Think back to the learning curve you faced when you got to the County. It’s a big, complex operation. All those acronyms! They’ll need our help in showing them how we function and how the fresh ideas they bring to the table can make their way into what we do.  

The familiar is comforting – but change is exciting. Invigorating, even. Embrace it! And as you do, reflect on some new year’s resolutions of your own. As I’ve talked to employees over the past couple weeks here are a few they’ve shared:

• Solve problems, don’t just share them.

• Be a positive force in our residents’ lives.

• Listen more.

• Appreciate and help co-workers.

• Become more tech savvy.

• Use social media to help, not to criticize.

• Take a daily walk or run to enjoy the beauty of San Diego (exercise is a side benefit!).

• Turn off the TV, set the phone aside and have a face-to-face conversation.

• Smile more.

• Relax – everything isn’t a crisis.

• Make at least one unexpected good thing happen every day for someone.

As we close 2018, let me reiterate how grateful I am to each of you for your hard work and dedication this past year. Your commitment was extraordinary. Now, let’s ring in the new era together. We have many exciting achievements ahead. Let’s get going!