Team Carlsbad –
You’ve likely seen the news that the regional stay at home order has been lifted statewide. This means we are back to the rules for the purple tier, which are summarized here. More info to come in today’s City Manager’s Update a little later.
Even with this news, now is not the time to let our guards down. Remote work and our citywide face covering policy are still in effect until further notice.
Since my last update we have had two new employee cases of COVID-19, both of them resulting in a workplace exposure. If you need a refresher on what this means and the city’s protocol in handling, please reference the staff FAQ.
Understandably, I know many people are eager to know about the COVID-19 vaccine plan for city employees. Even though we are all city workers and classified as disaster service workers, we fall under different vaccine phases, depending on the nature of our work.
Staff are still working on identifying city roles within the county’s vaccination phases and will have more information on that soon.
Right now, vaccines are available to those 65 and older and those in health care. You can see the list of tiers on the county website for more details. Public health officials are recommending people check first with their health care providers for information on vaccine availability, then go to a county site if needed. The county has established locations for vaccine distribution by appointment, the closest of which is in Oceanside.
Teamwork in action
Last Wednesday, our Emergency Operations Center was activated to support the response to a fast-moving brush fire near the north shore of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
In addition to our Fire and Police departments, many other city departments assisted with the response and recovery effort, and many agencies throughout the region provided mutual aid. Check out the video below showing some of the awesome air support we received from the San Diego Sherriff’s Office and CalFire. We were even recognized for our use of technology in fighting fires in this news story on Fox5 San Diego.
In spite of heavy winds and challenging topography, the fire was quickly brought under control with 0 structures lost and 0 injuries. Thank you to all those who supported this emergency incident, with special recognition to Public Works, which mobilized quickly to put erosion control measures in place on the burnt hillside just before this most recent storm. Great job to all!
About 200 homes had to evacuate during the Park Fire, a good reminder of the importance of emergency preparedness. We’ve updated our emergency preparedness resources with new COVID-19 precautions. Please take a look so you are prepared for an emergency.
Staff kudos – Communication & Engagement
Communication is one of our core organizational values, and it shows! Not only has our communication team been hard at work informing our community about the COVID-19 pandemic, they managed to win four awards in recent weeks from the Public Relations Society of America, San Diego chapter.
· Media Event: Connect and Launch – Carlsbad Connector news conference
· Video: State of the City
· Newsletter: City Manager’s Update
· Community Outreach: Engaging the Public on Carlsbad’s Budget Priorities
Excellent work!
Compensation discussion at today’s City Council meeting
Today the City Council will consider a 2% raise for management and part time employees. I will report out on the outcome in my next update. You can read the staff report here (starts on page 143).
Coming soon: Sexual harassment prevention training
Starting next week, please be on the lookout for an email from TrainingandEngagement@carlsbadca.gov for details about a two-hour mandatory sexual harassment prevention training.
Even if you’ve completed Respectful Workplace training or any other sexual harassment prevention training in 2020, all full-time and part-time employees are required to complete this course by the end of March 2021.
As a reminder, all employees are also required to acknowledge the COVID-19 prevention plan by Jan. 29 and take cybersecurity training within in the next three months.
I know there are a lot of moving parts in the city right now – fires, storms, new COVID-19 rules, City Council meetings and more. Please make a point to check in with your teammates a little more often than usual. Offer encouragement, catch up on their lives. It’s more important than ever that we stay connected as a team and support one another.
I can’t thank you enough for all your hard work. I also can’t believe this time last year we had never heard the term “stay at home order,” kids were in school, businesses were chugging along and we were working alongside each other – in person. That time feels so long ago now. We will get back to these things eventually. When we do, we will know that we can handle any challenge life throws our way, when we work together as a team.
Miss my last update? Read it here.