Organizational Announcement

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(L-R) Don Steuer, April Heinze, Tracy Sandoval, Ebony Shelton

(L-R) Don Steuer, April Heinze, Tracy Sandoval, Ebony Shelton

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

As many of you may have heard, a couple key members of my executive team will be retiring soon. 

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Don Steuer, my partner in every aspect of managing County operations, is retiring. His intellect, judgment, people skills, and “get it done” approach have been invaluable. It is hard to imagine leading this County without Don beside me offering guidance, expertise and support. Don previously served as the County’s Chief Financial Officer and General Manager of the Finance & General Government Group (FG3). During that time, he established fiscal policy that was the foundation for the fiscal strength the County has enjoyed over the past decade. In early March, Don volunteered to take on the daunting challenge of leading our COVID-19 Command Center full time. He assembled a world-class team of experts who have tirelessly given up their personal lives to work in the command center 24/7 for the last five months. His past military career made him the perfect choice to lead this battle. Fortunately, even though Don is retiring at the end of the summer, he will be returning on a part-time basis at Incident Command until the pandemic is under control.

After a successful military career and 13 years here at the County of San Diego, April Heinze will be retiring at the end of the month. But she will always have an incredible presence here. April served as the Director of General Services for 8 years, during which time she oversaw the incredible transformation of our capital program. Some of her most ambitious achievements include the beautiful County Operations Center campus, the Waterfront Park, The Medical Examiner’s Office and countless libraries. In November 2015, April assumed the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the Community Services Group, where she brought her executive expertise to lead multiple departments including Animal Services, Registrar of Voters, County Library, and Purchasing and Contracting, in addition to General Services. Most recently, April filled a critical role leading high-profile special projects, such as expanding our affordable housing initiatives using surplus County property, community choice energy, and helping to site our asylum seekers’ shelter. She has had a stellar County career and will be deeply missed.

Losing two phenomenal executives is really hard. But it helps soften the blow when you have a strong bench of leaders ready to step up. Therefore, I’m excited to announce that Tracy Sandoval, our current Chief Financial Officer and FG3 General Manager, will be assuming the role of Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for the County. Tracy joined the County from KPMG in 1998. She began her County career in the audits division and then moved to the Chief Technology Office where she worked in finance and contracting on the Information Technology Outsourcing Contract. After excelling in that role, she was promoted to Group Finance Director for FG3.  Again, after superb performance, Tracy was promoted to Auditor and Controller in 2003. Working side by side with Don Steuer, Tracy helped implement sound fiscal policies and impeccable financial reporting, resulting in countless fiscal awards and the County for the first time receiving a AAA Credit Rating from all three credit agencies. Tracy was later promoted to Chief Financial Officer and FG3 General Manager when Don ascended to ACAO. Tracy graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in accounting and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She is married and has two college sons who demand that she lead a very active lifestyle running, hiking, boating, and camping.

Filling Tracy’s shoes as Chief Financial Officer and the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for FG3 is Ebony Shelton. Ebony joined the County in 1997 at the San Diego Superior Court. Since that time she has held various human resources and financial positions across multiple departments and business groups. In 2006, she became the Finance Director for FG3 where she was responsible for planning, directing and organizing overall budgetary activities of the group as well as providing oversight of the County’s debt portfolio. In 2010, Ebony was promoted to Director of the Office of Financial Planning, where she is responsible for directing the County’s strategic financial plan, long-term financial forecasting, and facilitating the decision-making process for the $6 billion annual budget. She also serves as the principal budget and fiscal advisor to all the groups and the Board of Supervisors.  As a result, in 2018 the County received its first GFOA Award for Excellence for Leveraging Best Practices of the Strategic Management of Liabilities for Pension, Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB), and Renewal of Aged Infrastructure. Ebony has an undergraduate degree in business administration and a master’s in public administration from California State University – Northridge. A San Diego native who loves the beach and coffee, Ebony is married with three daughters and resides in the South Bay.

Please join me in thanking April and Don for their dedicated service to the County and wishing them the very best in their upcoming retirements. And also join me in congratulating Tracy and Ebony as they step into their new executive leadership roles, ready and anxious to bring change and new achievements to the County.

County Reviewing Psychological Impacts of COVID-19

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Behavioral health experts across the country are monitoring the effects of the COVID-19 health crisis and accompanying economic slowdown, especially the rates of suicide and drug overdose deaths.

Nationwide, surveys show a 200% increase in psychological distress compared to a comparable period last year due to COVID-19.

Locally, the County of San Diego is reviewing statistics on the psychological impacts of COVID-19.

Learn more on County News Center.

Listening Session: Unite and Transform with Your Colleagues

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The Employee Resource Group Council is hosting a listening session centered on Black voices. The session will address social justice, equity and identity issues, in order to improve our County workforce and customer service experiences.

Attendees are encouraged to listen with an open mind and support our courageous peers as they share their experiences, concerns and suggestions.

The ERG Council extended a special invitation to all County leaders to act as a catalyst during this time of change.

Date: Wednesday, July 8

Time: 5 p.m.

WEBEX info:

  • Meeting number (access code): 133 654 7940

  • Meeting password: 12345

or

Join by phone:

  • Call 415-655-0001

If you would like to remain anonymous, please send your questions/comments to ERGCouncil@sdcounty.ca.gov at least one day prior to the session.

Help Recruit for Redistricting Commission

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Tell your friends, neighbors and acquaintances – the County is taking applications for its Independent Redistricting Commission. This once in a ten-year opportunity will allow members to redraw the boundaries for the County’s five supervisorial districts. District lines can shape a community’s ability to elect the representative of their choice.  The Clerk of the Board is looking for a wide cross section of applicants to reflect the County’s diversity.

For more information, visit County News Center. 

Update for July 2

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Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

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You’re probably aware we’ve seen several discouraging trends recently in tracking COVID-19 activity in our region. Cases have shown big jumps. Hospitalizations are up. We’ve hit several of our “triggers” for modifying the health order. In response, we’ve closed bars that don’t serve food and directed restaurants to shut at 10 p.m.

We’ve also had an increase in the number of County employees testing positive. The percentage of our total workforce is very low, but it’s still a cause for concern.

Because of these external and internal trends, we’re pulling back on the opening of County facilities. We were planning to reopen library branches Monday, but we’re putting that on hold. We’re also going to close offices at the County Administration Center to most public services. That includes the Treasurer/Tax Collector and the Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. They’ll be open today, then close the rest of July. We’ll see what the trends are like at the end of the month before deciding whether to reopen again

We’re also asking nonessential employees to continue to telework as much as possible and pausing any additional reopenings to the public.

It’s frustrating to take a step back, but the numbers show this virus remains a growing health threat. We’ll have an ongoing balancing act between wanting to reopen and taking prudent steps to protect the public’s and our employees’ health.   

We can all help stem the increase by taking the measures we’ve been talking about all along. Wash your hands. Wear a face covering – evidence continues to grow showing their effectiveness. Maintain social distancing. We can’t stress enough that gatherings with others outside your household are still not allowed. That means no inviting people over for backyard barbecues or big beach get-togethers on Fourth of July. I hate to come around every holiday with that same message, but it still holds true. This virus passes from one person to another, so the best way to stop the spread is to stay apart.

I thank all our staff directly involved with the COVID response who will stay busy in that effort over the long Independence Day weekend. I hope the rest of you will enjoy the holiday and celebrate safely.