County Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

The San Diego County Latino Association Employee Resource Group hosted a lively Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at the County Operations Center on Tuesday with music, a cultural dance performance, sweet treats and resource booths.

Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize the many contributions made by Americans of Indigenous, Spanish and African descent to history, education, science, music, literature, art, and civic and government service. 

“It's a time to honor our ancestors, our people, and community for their heart for life and work, said SDCLA President Oscar Talaro. “It's a time to gather as Latinos and celebrate our heritage and relationships.”

Learn more about the ERG, visit the San Diego County Latino Association on InSite.

Register for the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill, Share Safety Pictures

The County’s Office of Emergency Services invites employees and their families to register to drop, cover and hold on at 10:17 a.m. on 10/17 as part of the Great ShakeOut earthquake drill. You can also help spread the word about the importance of individual and community preparedness by taking part in a #ShakeOutSD social media challenge.

 Visit ShakeOut.org to register and learn about how to plan to survive an earthquake with your family. Learn what you can do to prepare before an earthquake strikes.

 Then to participate in our social media challenge, take two simple steps on Thursday, Oct. 17:

Take a picture or video of yourself, your friends, colleagues, team, department, classroom or agency practicing “Drop, Cover, and Hold on” under a sturdy desk or table.

If you don’t work in an office or have access to a table, you can still be part of it. Show us how you would stay safe in other environments or situations that apply to you like being outside, parked in a car, at the beach, or if you’re in a wheelchair. To find recommendations, visit this page and look for Specific Situations.

Just post the video or photo on your social media, or your department’s Facebook and/or Twitter account if they agree to it and include the hashtag #ShakeOutSD. Don’t forget to tag @ReadySanDiego too.

OES will be sharing your posts and other useful earthquake safety tips on ShakeOut Day.

Are You the County’s Best Baker?

Are you the County’s best baker? The proof is in the pudding… or cupcakes, cookies or pie. Enter the 7th annual County Employees’ Charitable Organization Bake Off to vie for the title!

To enter the CECO Bake Off, email your name and baked good entry to sdceco@sdcounty.ca.gov.

Past winners are Pete Jacovino (ARCC), Donatella Aguinaldo (General Services), Margarita Flores (HHSA), Chris Welsh (County Counsel), and Candy Cowell (TTC).

The icing on the cake is that the Bake Off is part of a CECO bake sale fundraiser at the County Administration Center on Oct. 24. All money raised will go to community organizations and employees in need.

If you’re a good baker, rise to the occasion and donate yummy goodies for the sale. Drop CECO an email to let them know you plan to prepare a dessert.

PerkSpot: Scary Good Deals for Halloween

Get ready for Halloween with this spooktacular sale. Get 30% off everything at Halloween Express through PerkSpot. The online shop has costumes, accessories, party supplies and décor.

PerkSpot offers benefits and discounts through more than 400 service providers and retailers. Go to SDCounty.PerkSpot.com and shop. If you are new, click on “Create an Account” to register.

Each month, one of the most popular PerkSpot deals will be highlighted on InSite. 

ERG Celebrates Coming Out Day

Our LGBTQ and Allies Employee Resource Group held a National Coming Out Day celebration at the County Operations Center on Friday.

The event, which commemorates the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights 31 years ago, had resource booths, giveaways and guest speakers. 

The ERG noted that observing National Coming Out Day is significant because it reaffirms the importance of coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or an ally.

County Employees Demonstrate HEART

County employees came together Tuesday to celebrate National Customer Service Week during the County’s first-ever Journey to Customer Service Fair. The County’s Customer Experience Initiative hosted the fair, which allowed employees to explore the definition of outstanding customer service in a playful way.

Fair attendees were invited to take a journey around COC Chambers, filling up their Journey to Your Best Self road map along the way. To get a token of appreciation, employees had to stop at six stations, where they could learn more about maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle, even in hectic times.

Among the stations was a table where attendees could learn mindfulness exercises. Another stop on the journey invited County employees to tie strings to words that define their true selves and see how many fellow County staff share the same defining attributes.

Once they completed all the activities, County employees were asked to sign a banner, affirming that they commit to using a positive approach to provide customers with a positive experience and to promoting an environment that is inclusive to all. The banner will be on display at the National Coming Out Celebration at the COC this Friday.

Outside of the Chambers, employees from various County departments and several external vendors informed fair attendees about their services. County staff engaged fellow employees in conversations about process changes, programs and activities they have put in place to improve the customer experience.

To learn more about the County’s Customer Experience Initiative, visit the CEI page on InSite.

Friday Photo: Protecting the Public

Did you know that the County is continually working to protect the public from disease? It does. And to do that, it relies on its Public Health Lab which works with public health clinics, local hospitals, healthcare providers and the departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health.

Microbiologists at the Public Health Lab can detect practically any organism, including measles, influenza, plague, norovirus, HIV, rabies, drug-resistant tuberculosis Zika, dengue and chikungunya.

The Public Health Lab processes about 60,000 specimens and performs more than 100,000 tests each year. Also, the lab tests more than 1,500 water samples—drinking water, wastewater, and recreational water—per year.

Share your fabulous photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it. Be sure to include information about the photo and your name. One image will be posted to InSite every Friday.

See the Friday Photo gallery.

Public Safety Group Leadership Announcement

from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

After a stellar County career spanning more than 30 years, most recently leading our Public Safety Group, Ron Lane has announced his retirement, effective at the end of this year.

ron lane

Ron is admired and respected by everyone who’s had the fortune of working with him. He’s shown excellence in everything he’s done – and he’s done a lot. He started with the County in Planning and Land Use, then switched to public safety, working in municipal courts, Child Support and Emergency Services, where he expertly managed response operations during the 2007 firestorms.

In 2011, he became Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager for PSG. He’s continuously raised the bar for the departments and guided them through challenging organizational changes and program implementations: the successful completion of realignment, the opening of the Community Transition Center, Las Colinas reconstruction, the Living Safely strategy, County Fire expansion, the Trauma Response Unit at juvenile hall, Drug Medi-Cal. That’s just to name a few.     

It’s a tremendous legacy, and we are all safer thanks to Ron’s effective leadership.

We’ll miss him, but I am thrilled to announce Holly Porter will take the reins at PSG.

holly porter

As director of the Office of Emergency Services, Holly has shown leadership when it matters most: during times of disaster. She’s led the Emergency Operations Center during multiple incidents, including the 2014 wildfires and the Lilac Fire in 2017. She’s overseen the introduction and expansion of various tools to help residents prepare for and stay safe during emergencies. During her tenure, OES met standards for the Emergency Accreditation Program, which recognized the County for best practices in planning, training and public awareness campaigns.

Prior to taking over at OES, Holly held several communications positions within the County, guiding our response in numerous high-profile events.

Holly has consistently provided strategic vision and promoted innovation, and I look forward to her taking our public safety departments to new heights.

Please join me in congratulating Holly in her new assignment and wishing Ron the best in a well-deserved retirement. Over the next three months, they’ll serve together in PSG, and we’ll conduct a nationwide search for our next director at OES.

Fair Showcases Customer Experience Initiative

National Customer Service Week happens Oct. 7 -11, and the County is celebrating its dedication to exceptional customer experiences in a big way. County employees are invited to attend the Journey to Customer Service Fair at the COC Chambers on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The fair runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will include booths highlighting the work of numerous County departments and vendors. There will also be an opportunity drawing.

Representatives from County departments will showcase how they are improving the customer experience by sharing process changes, programs and activities they have put in place to ensure that all customers, internal and external, are receiving the best service.  

Fair attendees can also participate in the It Starts with HEART workshop, (HEART stands for Helpfulness, Expertise, Attentiveness, Respect and Timeliness) which will detail how County employees can provide world-class customer service without losing sight of their personal health and wellness goals.

The workshop starts at 11:30 a.m. and will allow employees to explore the direct correlation between providing exceptional customer service and nurturing your authentic self physically, emotionally, culturally, spiritually and intellectually.

The workshop and fair are presented by the County’s Customer Experience Initiative. Visit the CEI page on InSite to learn more about how you can get involved.

Enter ‘County’s Got Talent’ Competition

UPDATE: Deadline extended to Monday, Oct. 14.

Remember when MTV played videos, Ronald Reagan was president and people rocked shoulder pads, acid-washed jeans and mullets? This Halloween the 80’s are back with a County’s Got Talent competition that honors the decade!

Singers, dancers, musicians, magicians, comedians or variety acts are invited to enter the fun and friendly employee contest.

To enter, upload a video audition to YouTube and email the link to the County’s Got Talent committee by 5 p.m., Oct. 10. Videos must be two minutes or less and 80’s themed.

Semi-finalists will be announced Oct. 14 on InSite where employees can vote for their favorite through Oct. 18. The top five vote-getters will compete live at a Halloween festival at the County Operations Center on Oct. 31. The winning act will be selected by a panel of special guest judges the day of the event.

(Instructions on how to upload to YouTube from a computer, Android and iPhone/iPad.)