OCWD Online - 2003 Employee of The Month

OCWD EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH FOR 2003

APRIL 2003

Employee of the Month - Justin McKeever

At the April 2 board meeting, Justin McKeever was recognized by the OCWD Board of Directors as the Employee of the Month for April 2003.

Justin was chosen as Employee of the Month for being an innovative thinker when it comes to managing the Seawater Intrusion Barrier. He has used initiative to show that frequent back flushing of the wells increases the injection capacity, and he has come up with a wellhead design modification to expedite well flushing. In addition, Justin was nominated as Employee of the Month for his can-do attitude, willingness to work overtime when others will not, and for being a team player, mentor to others and very good communicator.

Justin McKeever

MAY 2003

Employee of the Month - Jim Kutzle

Jim Kutzle is Employee of the Month for May 2003 and was chosen for going far beyond the call of duty in his realm of responsibilities at the Orange County Water District (OCWD). He is conscientious, thorough, helpful and a team player with a can-do attitude—never a complaint. Jim maintains inventory and deliveries in the OCWD warehouse for all OCWD staff. He continually follows up with employees to be sure all necessary products are in stock in order to maintain efficient production and processes at OCWD. His willingness to help departments throughout the District to make things run smoother by offering to do more than simply pick up and deliver goods shows that he takes his job at OCWD a step beyond the call of duty. His positive attitude and kind words demonstrate true customer service.

Jim Kutzle

JUNE 2003

Employee of the Month - Chris McConaughy

June 2003’s employee of the month is Chris McConaughy. A chief operator at OCWD’s recharge facilities, McConaughy was selected for saving approximately 1,200 acre-feet, or $300,000 worth, of water for OCWD. During his monitoring operations, Chris realized OCWD and two other agencies were recording different quantities of water being released from the conservation pool behind Prado Dam, which is used to replenish Orange County’s groundwater basin. Because of the excess release of water, OCWD could have lost valuable water to the ocean, but with Chris’s research, this amount was cut back and will be conserved for future needs.

Chris McConaughy

JULY 2003

Employee of the Month - Rita Hintlian

Rita Hintlian, environmental specialist in OCWD’s water quality department, was selected as Employee of the Month for July 2003. Rita is recognized for her handling, sorting and presenting of large of amounts of water quality data. She frequently responds to urgent requests to help prepare figures and tables of water quality information. Rita is also commended for highly efficient and productive response to requests to plot and analyze other types of data, such as recharge basin percolation rate and water level data. Rita is also the administrative support assistant for the water quality department where she continually maintains a high level of work and provides departmental support in a friendly manner.

Rita Hintlian

AUGUST 2003

Employee of the Month - Vickie Nguyen

Vickie Nguyen is a Senior Programmer/Analyst.

Vickie Nguyen

SEPTEMBER 2003

Employee of the Month - Jason Burton

Jason Burton

Jason Burton, a chemist in OCWD’s water quality laboratory since 2000, was selected as Employee of the Month for September 2003. Jason is recognized for his creative and dedicated work with the maintenance of water quality laboratory analytical equipment. His efforts have saved OCWD money, valuable staff time and have improved overall lab performance. Jason has also initiated an in-house preventative maintenance program for one of the laboratory’s highly-used and important pieces of equipment. Using his excellent mechanical knowledge and understanding of the equipment’s design, Jason was not only able to fix this equipment but help reduce the number of problems the lab had with the unit. He has also developed a more effective way to track preventative maintenance procedures through an instrument maintenance bulletin board. This display board allows each laboratory staff member to track maintenance records for each analytical system, allowing better coordination of planed service visits, as well as, keeping systems operational and optimized. Jason’s team spirit and adaptability have gone a long way to improve the overall performance of OCWD’s laboratory. Congratulations Jason!

OCTOBER 2003

Employee of the Month - Jill Everhart

Jill Everhart

Jill was selected for this honor because she isinstrumental in the development of all Groundwater Replenishment (GWR)Systemgrant applications. As part of the GWRSystemteam she helped secure thirty million dollars from Department ofWaterResourcesin 2001 and she is one of the key staff members who developed a grant proposal for an additional twenty million dollars for an expansion of the GWR Systemproject. She is able to balance supporting one Assistant General Manager, the GWRSystem staff and securing millions of dollars in grant money for Orange County Water District. She goes beyond the call of duty by taking home documents to review for perfection. She took the initiative to write sections of the grant applications and in doing so, improved the appearance of the document as a whole. In addition, Jill was nominated as Employee of the Month for her can-do attitude, willingness to work overtime, and for being a very good communicator.

NOVEMBER 2003

Employee of the Month - Pat Tennant - Habitat Restoration Manager

Pat Tennant

Pat was selected for contributing to Orange County Water District's mission
far beyond the requirements of his job and duties for the betterment of the
District. About four years ago Pat was approached by Public Affairs to give
up many of his weekends in order to begin a program to provide bird tours at
Prado. Although this is not a requirement of his job, he does this to
support the District's communication efforts and build the reputation of the
District as an environmentally responsible water agency.

Pat's skills as a field biologist have earned him the respect of his peers.
Furthermore, he has an good-natured way and manages to bridge mitigation and permit requirements with engineering necessities and people needs. He is
one of only 5 people in Southern California whom hold permits to work with
our threatened river fish, the sucker. He helps run and oversee our
complicated and highly successful Watershed Program and is also responsible
for rebuilding parts of the Prado forest in compliance with permits for
water conservation at Prado. Congratulations Pat!!

DECEMBER 2003

Employee of the Month - Lee Yoo - Chemist Supervisor

Lee Yoo

Lee has been selected for being an exemplary, innovative and professional employee with extraordinary leadership and dedication. As a veteran of our water quality laboratory Lee has been an essential individual for many of the critical targets impacting the water industry today. His innovative approaches have kept the Main laboratory at the forefront of analytical achievement. Lee has recently developed a procedure to resolve two water quality targets within the same analytical method, saving time and money. He has always been an ambassador of the District. He is well respected by other agency staff members, as well as researchers and vendors. He leads by example. He is an excellent team builder, developing areas of individual expertise within each staff member, while also stressing the "team" work environment. He knows what it takes to bring his team together and then works for the common goal. When given a goal, Lee focuses on all the available resources to achieve them. However, he is also flexible, and when objectives change, he is able to quickly redirect his team. Good job on achieving a 100% on this year's annual performance evaluation testing for the California State Laboratory Certification!
Congratulations Lee!