Extreme Makeover: County Website Edition

/

We’re showing a fresh face to the world today. The County’s website has a new look and some new features to make it more useful to the people we serve.

First off – the address. We’re now using SanDiegoCounty.gov and have built that in as the title on the site. The address the County has long used, sdcounty.ca.gov, will still work, so there’s no immediate need to change any links or bookmarks out there. But the new name should be easier for the public to remember. And SanDiegoCounty.gov applies only to the website. Email addresses are staying as they are.

The biggest change is that the site was designed to display much better on smartphones. The sections of a page will resize and re-stack to fit the screen, with a lot less pinching and zooming. If you look at the site on your desktop then your phone, you’ll see the menu collapses into a single button. Getting everything on the site to adjust smoothly from desktop to phone will take continued effort, but we’re in much better shape to reach customers where they now expect to get things done: on their mobile devices. 

One of the most important tools on any website is the search, and we've made a couple improvements to ours. If you start typing something in the search box, after a few letters you'll see it give a few suggestions of most common results. There’s also some work on the back end that will match specific pages to certain phrases, making much better search results. These features should also continue to get better with time.    

From the County's home page, you'll see a new addition to the site, a section called SDCountyInFocus. It compiles in one location reports, maps, look-up tools, facts and figures on the gamut of County services and activities.

Those are a few of the highlights. There’s still a little work going on in the transition, so – pardon our dust, so to speak, if you come across any. But welcome to the new SanDiegoCounty.gov.


Get Your Free Flu Shot

/

Linda Feeley with Agriculture, Weights and Measures

Seasonal flu vaccines are now available to County employees! County Operations Center employees were the first to line up for the free shot on Tuesday.

All employees are encouraged to take advantage of this benefit. Your appointing authority may approve reasonable County time for employees to receive their flu shots. To be eligible to receive your free flu shot, you will need to present your County ID.

The 2014 Flu Shot Schedule is available on the County Wellness website. No appointment is necessary.

Susan Esqueda, Jody Bumhoffer and Leah Samaniego with the Registrar of Voters

 

 

Christine Grove                                                    

County Employees Eligible for Tuition Discounts

/

It’s back-to-school season! And if that has you thinking about lifelong learning or career advancement, know that there are tuition discounts available to you. National University and the University of Phoenix now offer tuition rate cuts to County employees.

National University

County employees are eligible for 15 percent off tuition and a waiver of the application fee at National University.

The San Diego-based university is a non-profit with five schools and one college: School of Business and Management, School of Education, School of Engineering, Technology and Media, School of Health and Human Services, School of Professional Studies and the College of Letters and Sciences.

National University offers classes online and at 45 locations, including in Carlsbad, La Mesa, Rancho Bernardo and Chula Vista. Enrollment is year-round. The school has more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degrees and 23 teacher credential programs.

University of Phoenix

County employees are eligible for a 10 percent tuition reduction when enrolling in any degree program, certificate program or individual course at the University of Phoenix. Prospective students can call (866) 354-1800 or visit phoenix.edu/countyofsd to learn more.

Existing students can also take advantage of the discount by logging into eCampus, selecting the Account tab and clicking on the Employer/Tribal Benefits Program link.

University of Phoenix offers more than 100 degree programs, associate’s, bachelor’s and post-graduate programs. Courses are offered online or at classroom locations, including in downtown San Diego, Kearny Mesa, Chula Vista and San Marcos.

Also remember that you may be eligible for the County’s tuition reimbursement program  for courses at accredited colleges and universities.

Help Clean Up the County's Coast

/

 

San Diego’s beaches — they’re rad, awesome, epic and let’s face it, the envy of the rest of the world.

And you can help keep them that way by taking part in the 30th annual Coastal Cleanup Day Saturday morning, Sept. 20.

The event, which is put on locally each year by I Love a Clean San Diego, will take place from 9 a.m. to noon at 100 different beaches, creeks, channels, lakes and other spots all around the county where trash and pollution can be swept by rain and irrigation to the ocean.

All you need to join thousands of your neighbors to work on a great cause is a little time, a plastic bucket, some work gloves, a reusable water bottle, and to register. (The site also has an interactive map showing all the cleanup locations and where volunteers are needed!)

If you do take part in the event, email us a photo and we may show it off on InSite!

Coastal Cleanup Day is sponsored by our County and has been supported financially by Supervisors Ron Roberts, Dave Roberts and Greg Cox — a longtime champion who will be one of a number of speakers at the event’s media kickoff.

“Our beaches and coastline define San Diego, and we need to protect them,” Cox said. “That’s why I encourage County employees to bring their families and join volunteers at cleanup sites throughout the region.”

Because Rubio’s is one of the sponsors for this year’s event, everyone who volunteers (while supplies last) will receive a Rubio’s meal card as a thank you. There will also be fun events for kids, including a photo contest, a “Bling Your Bucket Contest” — to see who can come up with the most creative decorations for their buckets.

I Love a Clean San Diego officials said that at last year’s event here in the county, nearly 8,000 volunteers came out and picked up more than 85 tons of trash and recyclables from 186 miles of shoreline!

California’s Coastal Cleanup Day is also part of an international coastal cleanup campaign which attracts volunteers from nearly 100 countries. This year, nearly 650,000 people collected 12.3 million pounds — more than 6,100 tons — of debris from shorelines around the world.

So volunteer! And keep San Diego County’s beaches rad!

Employees Support Former Co-worker in Cool Way

/

The Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s office dares you to try the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Three members of the office took the chilly challenge this week at the County Administration Center to show support for a former colleague.

Lynda Messner was with the County for 13 years until she retired in February. She was recently diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease, which affects the brain and the spinal cord. She now uses a wheelchair and has difficulty speaking.

Messner and her husband, Mike, visited on Tuesday to watch assessment clerks Alex Anonas, Madelyn Murray and Rosendo Ortega bravely take buckets of cold water poured over their heads. The ARCC office also made a donation of $300.

“Her battle has really touched my heart,” said Murray. “I wanted to bring awareness to ALS.”

Murray also asked all other departments to take the Ice Bucket Challenge.

“Come on. It’s for a good cause,” said Murray.

Assessment Clerks Rosendo Ortega, Madelyn Murray and Alex Anonas with Lynda Messner.Assessment Clerk Madelyn Murray gets drenched in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at the CAC.Assessment Clerk Rosendo Ortega does the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.