Employee Update, 9-3-24

Hey Team Carlsbad, I hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day weekend and you were able to be out and celebrating with your friends and family. But speaking of celebrating, we got to get to those kudos and I got a lot to give out.

First, a big shout out to Carlsbad Municipal Water District staff for getting ahead of the new federal rule that requires us to confirm lead pipes aren't used in any of our systems. Our team visited more than a thousand places across the city, including sites with the oldest buildings in Carlsbad, to inspect those pipes. Our team got to work right away to conduct these inspections and as expected we didn't find any lead. Now all this work behind the scenes helps make sure we can continue to deliver high quality drinking water to CMWD customers. It's one of the most important ways we can demonstrate that we're being brilliant at the basics.

Now, some very kind kudos came in for our custodian, Sandra Gallegos, over at Police and Fire Headquarters. Team members say Sandra takes great care of the staff and they can always find her hard at work. Sandra's colleagues describe her as friendly, courteous, efficient and hard working. Thank you Sandra for that. And I also want to give a big shout out to all of our custodial team, in all of our facilities. We're really so lucky to have such a talented and incredible team. Thank you.

Now, kudos to all library staff who worked for months to plan and host the annual Summer Reading Adventure. This year, the city had 3,133 participants across all age groups, who read a combined total of more than 1.5 million minutes. The Summer Reading Adventure involves planning and cooperation among both full time and part time library staff, library leadership, Communication & Engagement and Parks and Recreation for the popular Storywalk programs in parks across the city. Thanks to all involved and special shout outs to reference librarian Jennifer Benson and library assistant Kylee Seal for their contributions as Summer Reading Adventure co-chairs.

Now a heads up for our all full time employees. The time to select your health benefits is coming up. To help you prepare, HR has organized two events that are happening next week. Now, they're optional to attend, but can be helpful in choosing your benefits for the next calendar year. Please check the Inside Carlsbad blog for more details. And many thanks to the HR team for all their work behind the scenes to prepare.

Well, that's it for me this week. Please be kind to one another. Be safe and I'll see you again real soon. Take care all.