We All Count
Starting off with a big shout out to our staff working on the city’s homeless response plan, including our two newest team members Holly Nelson, homeless program manager, and Jessica Osborn, our new “housing navigator”. They, along with members of the Homeless Outreach Team in the Police Department, plus city staff from other city departments participated in the nationwide “Point in Time” count of individuals experiencing homelessness. Not only is this important work that is a very high priority for Carlsbad residents, we had over two dozen community members volunteer to work alongside staff for this year’s count. Oh, and did I mention this all took place starting at 3:30 a.m.? Excellent work all around! Thank you.
Assistant City Manager/Chief Operations Officer
As you know by now, Chief Operations Officer Elaine Lukey has decided to retire in March. Now that I’ve had a little time to think about how to move forward, I have decided the chief operations officer title will “retire” along with Elaine. I will instead be bringing back the assistant city manager position. My goal in making this change is to shift the main responsibility for operational oversight to our three deputy city managers. This will allow the City Manager’s Office to have an even greater focus on the big picture strategies of the organization and making sure they are aligned with what is most important to our community.
City of Carlsbad Awarded an Excellence Award for the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Operating Budget
The California Society of Municipal Finance Officers recognizes those entities with highly professional budget documents with two levels of certificates. The first level is the “Meritorious Budget Award,” which requires the entity to meet a very specific list of criteria. The second level is the “Operating Budget Excellence Award,” which requires that the organization meet even higher criteria which effectively enhances the usability of the document.
City Personnel Connect at Technology Summit
Fire, Safety I/T, and GIS personnel attended a two day Fire Operations Technology Summit, hosted at the world renowned ESRI campus in Redlands, California. The technology summit, presented by CalChiefs and FIRESCOPE, brings together fire operations chiefs, public safety personnel, and technology experts from across the state of California. The goal of the summit is to improve daily operations and first responder safety, and to discover innovative uses of technology and approaches to emergency response, management and data analytics.
Newest Certified Park and Recreation Professional
Recreation Area Manager Margaret Hamer recently became a Certified Park and Recreation Professional. Margaret joins other employees in the Parks & Recreation Department who achieved education and experience prerequisites and passed a rigorous national examination which is designed to assess the core knowledge of job-related tasks common to parks and recreation professionals. The certification is the leading professional certification in the parks and recreation field. Congratulations, Margaret!
Pine Avenue Community Center and Gardens Project Recognized
The Pine Avenue Community Center and Gardens Project has been selected as the Outstanding Community Improvement Project by the American Society of Civil Engineers Region 9. The selection provides significant recognition for civil engineering design. Staff is very pleased the city’s civil engineering subconsultant, BergerABAM, nominated the Pine Avenue Community Center and Gardens project for this prestigious award.
Hidden Valley Trail Event
On a crisp January Saturday morning, 24 volunteers came out to the Hidden Valley Trail Event and contributed approximately 45 hours of service to help beautify the trail. Volunteers (including one recently retired city planner!), along with city staff, painted bollards, trimmed vegetation, repaired erosion and picked up trash. The enthusiasm of the group was palpable. At the end of the event, volunteers expressed their satisfaction for a job well done and the excitement of meeting new friends. The City of Carlsbad appreciates all the volunteers and staff that came together to make this event a success.
Mitchell Thorp Foundation 5K Run/Walk
The Parks & Recreation Department recently permitted the Mitchell Thorp Foundation’s 11th Annual 5K Warrior Spirit Run/Walk Family Festival at Poinsettia Park on Saturday, Feb. 1. The event kicks off at 9:15 a.m. and includes a kid’s obstacle course, a vendor expo, musical performances and an inspirational opening ceremony featuring four skydivers making an aerial entry flying a 1,500 square foot American Flag.
eGaming Tournament Takes Over Pine Avenue Community Center
On Jan. 10, the UCSD Triton Gaming Club hosted the first eGaming Tournament in Carlsbad at the Pine Avenue Community Center. Middle schoolers from Carlsbad and throughout North County arrived ready to battle it out and earn the championship title. The center was filled with cries of triumph and defeat as the bracket slowly narrowed down to the final two. Participants gathered in the gym to cheer on the top two contenders as they challenged each other in a final showdown.
Walking Wednesdays Club Is Now Carlsbad Cruisers
The walking club that met once a week on Wednesday mornings at the Pine Avenue Community Center has grown so large that a second day, Tuesday, was added. The participants voted, and a club name change was made. Keep an eye out for the Carlsbad Cruisers as they make their away around Carlsbad on foot and prepare to participate as a team in the Carlsbad 5000.
Distinguished Service Award
At a recent Infragard San Diego membership meeting, Assistant Director of Emergency Operations, David Harrison, received InfraGard San Diego’s Distinguish Service Award “in recognition of extraordinary vision, dedication and achievement in the spirit of the InfraGard mission.” This award was presented in recognition of David’s and Carlsbad Community Emergency Response Team member Bob Welty’s coordination of Infragard’s first-ever regional earthquake symposium, which drew 400 attendees at Qualcomm’s Jacobs Hall. InfraGard is an alliance between the FBI and regional businesses focusing on critical infrastructure protection and has 2600 members making it the 3rd largest Chapter in the nation. David serves on InfraGard San Diego’ Board of Directors.
New Fire Department Personnel
The Fire Department welcomed five new Paramedic/Firefighters to Team Carlsbad. These personnel; Ryan Hetzler, Enrique Jacobo, Trent Robinson, Merritt Veyveris and Nick Vosdoganes, will begin their journey working through a six week academy, which helps to form a strong foundation, builds on current fire and
emergency medical service skills, and teaches performance expectations to achieve long term success.
Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership School Graduate
Sergeant James Willis graduated from the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute. This esteemed program for law enforcement is designed to stimulate personal growth, leadership and ethical decision making. It is an intense eight month program that challenges students to learn new ways to resolve issues.
Kid’s Mile Marathon
Members of the Police Department joined young runners at Legoland for the Tri-City Medical Center Kid’s Mile Marathon. Kids ran or walked a mile through the park and five dollars of each race entry fee was donated directly to Merlin's Magic Wand, helping children and families during times of serious illness or disability.
Police Department Promotes Three Officers
Congratulations! Nineteen year police veteran, Morgan Griggs was promoted to Police Sergeant. Seven year police veteran Matt Bowen was promoted to Corporal and five year police veteran Matt Jencen was also promoted to Corporal.
2020 Invitational at Cannon Art Gallery Until Feb. 8
The City of Carlsbad’s Cultural Arts Office presents the 2020 Invitational, an exhibition featuring the work of five San Diego County artists. The biannual exhibit provides an opportunity to showcase a select few of the artists from the most recent Juried Biennial and present their work in greater depth. The exhibition opened Dec. 15 and continues through Feb. 8 at the William D. Cannon Art Gallery, located at Dove Library.
Winter Reading Challenge Runs Until Jan. 31
The library is kicking of the New Year with the Winter Reading Challenge for all ages, running until Jan. 31. Carlsbad’s collective community reading goal for January 2020 is 125,000 minutes. As of day eight of the Winter Reading Challenge, the community had already read 25,161 minutes! To participate and earn a reading incentive, register here: https://carlsbadlibrary.beanstack.org/ Need reading ideas? Email librarian@carlsbadca.gov.
New Hires and Promotions in Library & Cultural Arts The department has hired and promoted staff in several key positions:
Sheila Crosby – New Principal Librarian at the Learning Center
Sandra Riggins – Promotion to Library Assistant at the Learning Center
Mayra Turchiano – Promotion to Community Outreach Supervisor at the Learning Center
Jennifer Davidson – New Library Administration Senior Office Specialist
Daisy Hernandez – New Cultural Arts Senior Office Specialist
This diverse group reflects internal promotions, transfers from other department as well as new hires to the city and is reflective of the department’s ongoing talent management and succession planning efforts.
First Author Event of 2020
Carlsbad City Library held its first author event of 2020 with the Transformational Authors of San Diego. These five authors inspired the nearly 50 attendees with a panel discussion moderated by Community Relations Manager Jessica Padilla Bowen, who used her skills acquired from her recently completed program through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching.
Positive Feedback on City Hall Construction On Friday, a librarian was returning to Cole from a meeting as one of toddler/preschool programs was ending. As she walked toward the library, she saw several toddlers, preschoolers and their families watching the construction crew work on Laguna Drive. One family even sat at the picnic table to watch all the action while eating snacks. The look on the little ones’ faces as they witnessed the construction crew use an excavator was priceless!