Shining a Spotlight on Ethics

We all want to work for an employer we can believe in.

We want to be treated respectfully, and be able to trust the people around us.

Studies show that the more secure employees feel about their organization’s values, the more productive and enthusiastic they are. They miss less work, too.

“Ethics are at the core of what we are about,” said Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer. “If you act ethically, you can sleep at night and everything else will fall into place.”

Most of the time, the County works quietly, behind the scenes to make sure integrity is at the heart of what we all do. We don’t necessarily spend a lot of time talking about ethics, because they are just something we live every day.

This month, that’s going to change. March is National Ethics Awareness Month, and the County will mark the occasion by highlighting its latest work to ensure a strong, ethical culture. The County will spotlight ethics-related resources available to employees and feature a few employees who are living the County’s core values every day.

Among the biggest recent developments is one taking effect today. The County’s Office of Internal Affairs is changing its name to the Office of Ethics and Compliance (OEC) and restructuring its department and mission. Under a series of changes approved by the Board of Supervisors last month, the renamed department will take over responsibility for the County’s compliance with federal and State laws, local policies and other rules and regulations. The department’s new name also signifies the more proactive role it will take in promoting ethics and compliance through education, training and other outreach efforts.

The department will offer more countywide compliance training online and in the classroom and more information and resources through its InSite page. Code of Ethics training will continue to be available online through LMS as well.

The County has taken a number of important steps to keep up to date with ethics over the past few years. As part of its Integrity in Action Program, the OEC updated the County’s Code of Ethics, which details the County’s standards of workplace conduct and the County’s six General Principles. It also created a Statement of Values, which spells out the County’s core values of integrity, responsible stewardship and commitment to excellence.

“The County has always been values-driven and we’ve always believed in doing the right thing,” said OEC Director Joe Cordero. “We’re just articulating the values better and making them more visible and official.”

In addition, the County last year launched an updated Ethics Hotline (1-866-549-0004) and website, which makes it easy for employees to report suspected fraud, waste, abuse or other questionable activity anytime. Calls and complaints are confidential and can be made anonymously. Previous Compliance and Office of Internal Affairs hotlines were combined to create the updated hotline. That and an online reporting form are operated by independent, third party provider The Network. They are back-up options if an employee either feels uncomfortable going to a supervisor, manager, Departmental Human Resources Officer or to the OEC or their attempts to do so were unsuccessful.

Cordero said his department is available to assist employees working through difficult situations. OEC will be a central resource to employees, departments and contractors or vendors in addressing ethics and compliance matters. As always, the OEC will continue to respond to and investigate complaints alleging improper government activity such as abuse of authority, gross mismanagement, significant waste of government funds, improper and inappropriate billings, conflicts of interest and other issues. The office will continue to handle complaints of discrimination and make appropriate recommendations. Having a centralized ethics and compliance function is more common among private sector Fortune 500 companies than local governments.

Stay posted over the course of March for more information and features on the County’s efforts to maintain a culture we can all believe in! For more information, visit the OEC’s InSite page.

Electric Car Gets a Test Run

A Coda electric vehicle gets recharged during its pilot program at the Air Pollution Control District. Prices at the pump have taken another one of their dramatic swings upward, but a few County employees recently logged hundreds of miles of driving without using a drop of gas. They were taking part in the County’s first-ever pilot program of an all-electric car.

The team that oversees County vehicles is actively exploring whether a zero-emission model would be a good fit. This particular trial run started when General Services’ Fleet Coordinator Mike Rivers was at a green fleet conference last fall and met a representative of Coda Automotive. The company makes an all-electric sedan and has a program to loan it to interested parties.

“At a glance, you’d think it was a Corolla,” Rivers said.

After getting the sign-off for the County to borrow the car, General Services arranged for staff from the Air Pollution Control District to try it out for a month. Employees could use it for work travel like getting to meetings or just take it for a spin. They needed to fill out a log with some basic tracking information and complete an evaluation.

Senior meteorologist Bill Brick says he jumped at the chance to drive one.

“I like the fact there was no motor sound,” Brick said. “It was neat to not hear a gasoline motor revving when you accelerated.”

And Brick said he was impressed with that acceleration, getting up to freeway speeds quickly and smoothly. As for the car’s overall comfort level, Brick said that did take a back seat to extending the driving range.

So how far was that? Rivers said on a fully-charged battery, the car would get from 85 to 105 miles. He said any number of County employees might cover more than that in a day, and he understands the vehicle just wouldn’t make sense for that. But for those making shorter hops, especially if there’s adequate recharging time, it could work really well.

To get it recharged, APCD staff plugged into a standard 110-volt outlet, the kind you typically find around your house or office. It took five to six hours to get it back to a full charge. Rivers said with a 220-volt charger, that would drop to about two hours. The County would most likely install the higher charging power if it buys electric vehicles.

Rivers said according to federal standards for electric cars in the same class as the Coda, the average cost of power per mile is just under 4 cents.  We all know gasoline prices routinely soar and dip, but based on the rate as of Feb. 27, the cost per mile is nearly 14 cents.  There are numerous figures that go into determining cost-effectiveness of any vehicle, but potential savings on the per-mile fuel cost are obviously substantial.

The County’s next step is the same that many car buyers take: keep looking around.

“We want to do as many pilot programs as possible and determine which is the best option,” Rivers said.

She's the MVP of the RSVP

New San Diego County RSVP manager Linda Hopkins

People do different things when they hit “mid-life.” Some get adventurous and sky dive or travel to exotic locations. Others splurge on long-coveted items like jewelry or a Harley.

Linda Hopkins, the new manager of the County’s Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), decided to change careers and obtained a degree in gerontology.

“I decided on a mid-life career change,” she said. “Everyone else gets a sports car.

“I got a degree.”

 Now she’s in charge of a Health and Human Services Agency program run through Aging & Independence Services that oversees more than 2,000 volunteers that donated more than 500,000 volunteer hours in 2012.

“I absolutely love it,” Hopkins said. “I love working with seniors and the concept of volunteerism.”

The RSVP program places volunteers at more than 125 sites across the county with duties ranging from patrols that assist law enforcement agencies to helping out with paperwork and filing. The older adults help teach literacy to young and old alike, deliver meals to home-bound seniors and greet visitors to cultural attractions.

Hopkins’ goal is to bring greater awareness and visibility to the program.

“We can always use more volunteers,” she said. “Sites call all the time looking for additional volunteers.”

RSVP is really a win-win for everyone involved. Hopkins said the program gives older adults a feeling of making a difference in their community and actively contributing and provides expert, experienced volunteers for the non-profit and public entities that use them.

“The program helps older adults become what we call ‘successful agers,’” Hopkins said. “It keeps some seniors from a position where they become in need of services themselves.”

Hopkins became the manager in November, 2012. She has been busy familiarizing herself with all the paperwork involved in running a federally-funded program. RSVP has also been working on implementing technology that will make it easier for both the volunteers and the sites to work together and keep track of everything.

 The San Diego RSVP is the largest in Southern California and Hopkins has making the rounds visiting volunteer sites and making community presentations.

“I love going out in the field,” she said.

One of her favorite activities that requires going out in the field is the monthly presentations of the RSVP volunteer of the month.

“We go out to the site and present it during one of their meetings where all the volunteers and staff from that site are gathered,” she said. “It’s a pretty big deal and a great recognition for the volunteer.”

For more information on RSVP, or if you know of someone who would like to volunteer, visit http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/hhsa/programs/ais/volunteers/ or call 1-858-505-6399.

2-1-1 San Diego: "Call Me, Maybe"

A few County officials join in on this pop music promotion of the 24/7 phone resource for the community. Learn more about 2-1-1 San Diego

Probation Celebrates a Year of Change at All-Hands Event

Chances are you’ve had to tackle big change at some point in your career with the County.  For our colleagues in the Probation Department, intense change has been—paradoxically—a constant for over a year.

Assembly Bill 109, aka Public Safety realignment, took effect in October 2011. Since then, the new set of laws has altered the work and focus of Probation employees— dramatically, for some. (Ditto for the many DA, Public Defender, Sheriff and HHSA employees also affected by realignment.)

Last week at its annual all-hands meeting, the Probation Department finally got a chance to collectively consider its accomplishments and let fly some celebratory and cathartic wooooo-hoos while drinking in high praise from County leaders for the department’s progress so far.

“I’m really proud of the work you do,” a beaming Chairman Greg Cox said to the hundreds of Probation employees gathered at the Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley.

He reminded staff that top officials set the policies for Public Safety realignment and other County initiatives, but it’s the people who do the job every day who really determine whether the efforts succeed.

“Ultimately, it’s not the leaders, it’s the boots on the ground,” Chairman Cox told them. “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank you.”

“It’s really a statement when the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors takes the time out to come and speak with you,” Chief Probation Officer Mack Jenkins said to his staff after the Chairman’s remarks.

Under realignment, one of the biggest changes for the Probation Department is probation officers now supervise felons released from state prison—previously the exclusive job of State Parole. The department has had to quickly create a new division and bring on new behavioral health services to supervise and help rehabilitate these serious offenders; hire, promote, train  and reassign staff; and of course carry on and excel in traditional efforts like supervising juvenile offenders. All with the incredibly high stakes of protecting the public and helping adults and kids change their lives.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis connected instantly with her audience at the all-hands event with a lighthearted take on the complicated work of implementing AB109, a set of laws that runs hundreds of pages.

“Is there anyone here who really understands AB109?” DA Dumanis cracked. Probation staff laughed and played along, keeping arms at their sides as the DA scanned the room for a single raised hand.

“If you don’t think you know what it is, relax,” she continued. “As I like to say, we’re building the plane while we’re flying it.” 

One of the ways County leaders and the public will judge realignment’s success is by whether the Probation Department can help turn around more career criminals around than State Parole did.

Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Ron Lane, General Manager of the Public Safety Group, said that probation officers and other staff members will ultimately be responsible for the challenge.

“The battle is really in the one on one interaction each of you has with the individual,” Lane said.

Lane, like the other speakers, left employees applauding and enthusiastic about that challenge with his praise of their recent efforts. 

“This has been a big year; last year we didn’t know what would happen,” Lane said. “I’m very proud of the work that’s occurred.”

Chief Jenkins was the final speaker to laud his staff.

“Last year I challenged our department to ‘Rise to the Occasion’ in anticipation of the impact of AB109 and Public Safety Realignment, and we clearly have...”

The Probation Department also honored the following employees with Chief’s awards as Employees of the Year in their respective services areas at the event:

Elainerose Lontoc

Eva Ramos

Tracy Landry

Sharon Moffett

Alejandro Leos

Charlene Cesena

Tabatha Wilburn

Nikki Horton

Additionally two employees, one sworn officer and one non-sworn employee received the department’s Award of Excellence:

Senior Probation Officer Leticia Bombardier

Administrative Secretary Lucy Tatoy

Step Up Your Health!

Human Resources posted a series of graphics at the County Operations Center and County Administration Center to promote the new stairwell exercise program, Dare to Stair.

Doing exercise doesn’t have to mean driving to a gym or putting on a pair of spandex.

It doesn’t require dishing out $10 or $15 for a class.

Adding exercise to your day can be as easy as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Under a new County fitness program, employees can earn prizes based on how many stairs they climb over the next five weeks.

On Tuesday, Human Resources expanded the “Dare to Stair” program to all employees. It kicked off as a pilot program at the County Operations Center last month. Nearly 500 employees have signed up so far. The County is partnering with Kaiser Permanente on the program.

The goal is to encourage employees who may not exercise regularly to take advantage of this highly accessible, free activity, said William Erese, the County’s Wellness Coordinator. Employees can count the stairs they walk to get to their desks in the morning or to go to lunch with coworkers. Employees can move at their own paces, fitting in stairs in whenever they can—at home, at work, in their neighborhoods, on the weekends. They can count both climbing up stairs and down stairs towards their overall totals.

Climbing stairs builds strength because it uses more muscles than just walking. The intensity level is also higher than walking.

“It takes walking to a different level, without running,” said Human Resources Analyst Susan Toner, who helped develop the program.

Stair climbing can also take participants to some scenic spots around San Diego County, from the Secret Stairs of La Mesa, to Torrey Pines State Reserve and the San Diego Convention Center downtown, Toner said.

To participate in the County’s program, sign up through LMS. Go to the County’s Quarterly Wellness Challenge web page and print out the log sheet. Simply record how many stairs you have climbed a day over the next five weeks and then submit it to Human Resources’ Benefits Division by email at FGG@sdcounty.ca.gov or by inter-office mail to mailstop O7.

Depending on how many stairs employees climb, they can win three levels of prizes. Achievement levels are based on the number of stairs it takes to climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York: 354. If a participant climbs 3,540 steps, or the equivalent of 10 Statues of Liberty, they will earn a t-shirt. If they climb 7,080 steps, or 20 statues, they’ll get a calorie counter jump rope and flat water bottle. And if they climb 10,620 steps, or 30 statues, they will win a gym bag and flashlight.

Erese said the County hopes employees will feel encouraged by their accomplishments. Next time an employee has a chance to actually climb the Statue of Liberty—or a similar challenge—hopefully they will have the confidence to go for it!

For more information, visit the County’s Quarterly Wellness Challenge web page on Insite.

Daffodil Days Bring Hope

Organizers are hoping County employees will give “hope by the bunches” and make this year’s American Cancer Society annual Daffodil Days fundraiser the most successful one ever.

Every year bright yellow bouquets start popping up on work stations across the County. Donors can make contributions of various amounts and receive a bouquet of daffodils or the flowers and a vase in exchange for their donation.

Even though it’s been a very successful campaign, this year is slated to be the last year of the popular fundraiser and organizers want to top previous efforts.

“Sadly, 2013 is the last year for the campaign, and so we really want this year to be the most successful ever,” said Stephanie Gaines, one of the County organizers. “As one of the first flowers of spring, daffodils have come to symbolize hope for cancer patients and their loved ones for a renewed life free from cancer.”

Funds raised through Daffodil Days are used to fund cancer research, education, early detection, advocacy and support a host of free programs for patients and their families, such as "Road to Recovery" where patients are provided rides to and from their appointments.

Besides purchasing daffodils for yourself, you can make a donation of a Gift of Hope, which delivers a bouquet of to patients in local hospitals, treatment centers and hospices around the county. Bears of Hope are also available and are provided for pediatric patients. 

Donations can be made online, or in person through coordinator through 4:00 PM Friday, Feb. 22. The daffodils will be delivered on March 19th.

Please contact Stephanie Gaines, Stephanie.Gaines@sdcounty.ca.gov, for information on how to donate, or where your nearest coordinator is located.

County Employee Recognized at White House

Hours after Hurricane Sandy touched down and devastated the East Coast in November, Leslie Luke with the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services answered a call to join FEMA’s Innovation Team. He was honored for his service this month at the White House.

“It was an honor to be selected for the team and provide input on disaster recovery that will hopefully make a difference to disaster survivors in future emergencies,” said Luke.

Last Wednesday, Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, thanked the FEMA Innovation Team members in the nation’s capital and spoke to them about the Hurricane Sandy challenges and outcomes. The team was later recognized for their contributions in a ceremony at the White House.

As a FEMA Innovation Team member, Luke was given full access to the disaster, recovery centers and FEMA operations. He was tasked with critiquing services offered to disaster survivors. His job was to come in and spot when things weren’t working and to help redesign FEMA’s disaster recovery centers if necessary. The recovery centers are similar to our Local Assistance Centers where disaster survivors can get assistance and information from government and nonprofit groups in one place.

The day-long meeting in Washington D.C. also included a FEMA “think tank” discussion about the response to Hurricane Sandy and about connecting formal to informal channels to provide faster relief to survivors in the future. Key White House staff and FEMA administrators were among the participants.

Overall, Luke said deploying to Hurricane Sandy has given him valuable knowledge and experience which he can apply to emergency management planning in San Diego County.

“It was really interesting to look at a disaster of that magnitude in an area that has the same challenges that we would have in San Diego in an urban setting,” Luke said.

 While a hurricane would be a rare occurrence, some of the resulting damage from flooding, debris management and emergency housing are problems we could encounter and have encountered on a smaller scale during the 2007 wildfires.

Kaiser, Anthem Launch Mobile App, Smartphone-Friendly Websites

You never know when you may need to find a doctor, urgent care center or hospital.

Being able to locate services that accept your health care insurance? Even better.

The County’s health insurance providers, Kaiser Permanente and Anthem Blue Cross, recently launched new mobile-friendly tools to help you do just that using smartphones.

Kaiser’s new app can be downloaded for free onto your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch through Apple’s App Store or onto your Android phones through Google Play.

The app allows Kaiser members to access their medical test results, email their doctor’s offices, schedule or cancel routine appointments and refill most prescriptions.

Also available now is Kaiser’s new secure, mobile-friendly member website, available through smartphone Internet browsers.

Anthem Blue Cross, meanwhile, also launched a mobile-compatible website. Anthem members can log on through their mobile devices and locate in-network doctors, urgent care centers and hospitals too. They can look up information about the doctors, automatically call the medical facilities or add the doctor or facility to their contact lists.

In a news release last month, Kaiser cited statistics from the Pew Internet Project showing that 40 percent of American adults access the Internet through mobile phones, and 25 percent of smart phone owners go online primarily through their phones. Of those, roughly one third have no high speed home broadband connections.

County employees can use their work-issued phones to access these tools. Rather than using personal accounts to download the apps, employees should set up a work account using their work email address. Credit card information shouldn’t be entered into work phones.

For more information, contact the Human Resources Department’s Benefits Division at 888-550-2203.

Like It or Not, You’re Being Honored!

Oh, you know the type. Quiet, unassuming and definitely shuns the limelight. Yet that same person makes it work, gets things done and delivers the goods, so to speak. Rick Ayres is that kind of guy and now Parks has caught him at it. The parks maintenance worker won Parks’ annual Unsung Hero Award.      

“I was surprised, I don’t really see myself as an unsung hero,” said Ayres.

Naturally! But Parks Director Brian Albright sees it differently.

“He is a do-it-all type of guy and in particular his welding skills have proven extremely valuable for us,” said Albright. 

Funny thing is; Ayres learned how to weld about 25 years ago in hopes of getting a job at the shipyards. That idea washed out with the rains in 1993. The Tijuana River Valley near Imperial Beach flooded. The City and the County needed clean-up crews. Ayres said to himself, I’d like to work with the County and the rest is, well you know.

He’s worked all over the County Parks system since then; local parks in the East and South County, Heritage Park, open space areas and El Cajon. Mowing, gardening, sprinkler repair, trails maintenance, new construction and more. Basically, if a County park needs some type of maintenance that can’t be handled at the site, Ayres is the go-to-guy.

Parks Maintenance Worker Rick Ayres“The hardest jobs are the ones with the quickest deadlines. They are the most challenging and the most rewarding,” said Ayres. “I get to do what I want to do. I’m not stuck anywhere and I get to meet people,”

His favorite part of the job, though, is welding.

“Ayres has repeatedly demonstrated a creative mind and has successfully designed and fabricated various site improvements,” said District Manager Matt Bohan.

Basically, Ayres can look at something and figure out how to improve on it. He designed, fabricated and welded a new entry gate that combines a vehicle gate and a horse gate into one unit. The original gate stuck two separate gates together and brought complaints that it bothered horses’ hooves. Ayres came up with a way to prevent that and save money. His new and improved vehicle and horse gate requires sinking two posts, instead of four and the structure is now much lighter yet just as sturdy.

Another example involves Iron Rangers. At unstaffed parks, these boxes collect fees from visitors. Each one costs about $1,500 to $2,000. The problem is some people try to break into them.

“I think we can come up with something better and cheaper,” said Ayres. He designed and welded a tamper-proof unit. With labor and materials, Ayres is saving the department $500 per collection box.

Ayres is the only welder at Parks and he currently works out of the El Cajon Operations Center which is right off of- appropriately enough for him - Weld Drive. But soon that will hold true for others in his department. Ayres is sharing his expertise on the intricacies of welding with his co-workers.

Albright says Ayres operates behind the scenes doing great work and deserves the Unsung Hero Award.

Ever modest, Ayres had this to say.

“I couldn’t have done this alone. A lot of people helped me along the way,” said Ayres. “I got the award but it was a collective effort.” 

Those shipyards will never know what they missed. One thing’s for sure, Ayres certainly won’t say anything!