County Hosts Career Day for Kids Coping with Homelessness

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What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a question often asked of children as they navigate their way through school and various interests. But imagine trying to answer that question when you're not even sure if you're going to have a roof over your head some nights? Eighth-grade students from a local school that helps homeless and at-risk children got a day to consider their career options during a trip to the County Administration Center.

The department of Human Resources partnered with the Community Services Group to host a career day on March 26. The event began with a talk given by Helen Robbins-Meyer, the Assistant Chief Adminsitrative Officer.

“We want to help the Monarch School provide these young people with bright futures by showing them how to prepare for a career in government or any other area they want to pursue,” said Helen Robbins-Meyer, the County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer.

The Monarch School works with the community and the Office of Education to give the kids coping with homelessness an education and provide basic needs such as healthcare, food and clothing.

The children saw a video presentation by Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., the County’s Public Health Officer, followed by a tour of many departments: the Assessor/Recorder/Clerk to see the marriage room and how the department creates property maps; Media and Public Relations showed the students how vidoes are edited and let them take turns reading a script on the teleprompter; a trip to the basement to see how paychecks are printed and stuffed, as well as a look into an old vault used when the building first opened; and even a visit to Board chambers where they got to sit in the seats of our Supervisors.

After lunch, the tour headed outside where students got to try on a HazMat suit, check out a Sheriff's SWAT vehicle, hop in a Public Works dump truck, and practice their voting skills in a polling booth. They also got to meet Friday the dog, who works with Agriculture, Weights and Measures to sniff out produce and plants shipped into the county, helping them identify pests.

"I learned a lot about a lot of different jobs that you can have at the County building. There's actually over 1,000, and that opens up my opportunities for after going to college in what I want to do," said D'Angelo, one of the students.

The Monarch School estimates there are at least 2,200 homeless kids in San Diego County. The school serves about 130 students in kindergarten through 12th grades, a number that has grown with the downturn in the economy. The school's vice-principal is hoping the school will be able to expand from its current downtown location.

Visit the Monarch School Web site for more information.

CECO to Make Annual Awards

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The San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO) Annual Awards Breakfast will be held tomorrow morning at the Kimball Senior Center in National City.

Seventy-six programs representing seventy local non-profit organizations, along with the CECO Employee Crisis Fund, will receive checks totaling $227,739. All of this money has been donated by employees and retirees of the County of San Diego and San Diego Superior Court

Representatives from charitable organizations including Rady Children’s Hospital (Anderson Center), Mama’s Kitchen, and Crash Inc. will be present to receive their individual checks.

CECO has been supporting local non-profit groups by way of grants since 1956 and has distributed millions to the local community since its inception.  The Annual Awards Breakfast is CECO’s way of recognizing the efforts of grant recipients, who continue to improve the health and well being of San Diego residents.

The breakfast begins at 7:30 am with a welcome address by CECO president, John Rasmussen. The event key note speaker is special guest Nick Macchione, County Health & Human Services Director. For more information, please contact Tracy Watkins at (858) 505-6390.

CTN.org will be covering the breakfast, so check back later for its story.

2010 Census: Be Counted!

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If it hasn’t arrived already, a census form will soon be showing up in your mailbox.  With just 10 short questions, it should take you only about 10 minutes to complete.  It’s extremely important for San Diego County that you do so.

When you fill out the census form, you’re making a statement about resources your community needs. The count affects how many seats California gets in the U.S. House of Representatives and how the state will draw districts.  Census data is used to decide how federal funds will be spent on infrastructure and services.  If San Diego County is to get an appropriate amount of funding, the census needs to accurately record how many people live here.

The information is also used by many organizations and individuals to help guide decisions on everything from business marketing to health research.

Included with the form is a postage-paid envelope.  Mailing it back is not only convenient – it saves money.  It costs $57 to send a census taker to a household that fails to mail in the form.  The Census Bureau estimates that if every household completed and mailed in the form, with no door-to-door follow-up, it would save taxpayers $1.5 billion.

You can learn much more about the census, including how to participate and how your information is protected, by visiting the 2010 Census Web site.    

The state is also promoting participation in the census through the California Complete Count Web site.

Hey, Rookies: Learn How to Invest!

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San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister is pleased to announce the next Investment & Retirement Symposium presented by the Deferred Compensation Division. 

This evening symposium will be held on Thursday, May 6, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. We have changed to a beautiful new location – the Doubletree Hotel, Mission Valley, 7450 Hazard Center Dr., San Diego, 92108.

There is no shortage of financial issues that families have to address these days. George Chamberlin will provide an overview of subjects including stocks, tax-free investing, Roth IRA conversions, dealing with the potential for rising interest rates, inflation and much more.

George Chamberlin provides a wealth of financial and business news updates to the Southern California Region. He is the Executive Editor for The Daily Transcript, San Diego’s only daily business newspaper and the business editor for KOGO Radio and host of “Money in the Morning,” a personal finance program each Sunday morning. As the Money Advisor for NBC 7/39, George provides financial reports each weekday morning, is a columnist for the North County Times and is the publisher and editor of a national newsletter, Investing for Rookies.

The cost is $15 per person or $25 per couple prior to April 15; $20 per person or $30 per couple after April 15.  Dinner and parking are included with your paid registration.  Great giveaways and prizes too!  Seating is limited and pre-registration by April 30 is required.

For registration and information, please log on to www.myDCplan.com (under the Important Information Box) or call the Deferred Compensation Department at (619) 531-5840.

The ROV Needs Pollworkers

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The Registrar of Voters is preparing for the June 8, 2010 Gubernatorial Primary Election and needs to identify poll workers who can help with this important election.  If you have never worked a poll, I hope you will seriously consider trying this new experience and join a team this election. For those 500-700 employees who have served before as poll workers, I commend you and hope you will return this election.

Since this primary election is expected to draw a larger turnout than the May 19, 2009 Statewide Special Election, the Registrar’s Office has made several changes that will improve your preparation and election day experience. To be a poll worker, you must complete a one-hour, online training and a two-hour class, in which you’ll learn to set up and close a poll and practice election scenarios. County employees can complete these trainings during work time, with supervisor approval. As in the past, this training is optional for poll workers assigned to work as Clerks.

Please note that Precinct Inspectors (PIs) will no longer be given a special cell phone for Election Day. Instead, they will be expected to use their personal cell phone to contact the hotline or recruitment staff and will be compensated with an additional $5 for using their personal cell phones.

We especially encourage those of you with bilingual skills in Spanish, Filipino or Vietnamese to volunteer. For information on other areas in which poll workers are needed, read the Eagle News.

The County’s Compensation Ordinance requires a new application be submitted with supervisor approval for each election. So turn in your application for this election as early as possible.  If you have questions regarding the County Poll Worker Program, please contact Jean Vukotich at (858) 694-3419 or jean.vukotich@sdcounty.ca.gov.