Tell us how your background and experience best qualifies you for the USM position.
Currently manage all LADWP WC programs & services with a budget $40M/Yr.
During the 8 years I have worked as the Supervisor of the Water Conservation Group:
population of L.A. has increased by almost 200,000 people (3.80M-3.99M)
total water usage has decreased (152-106 GPCD) by more than 50 billion gallons
about over 1.5M water conservation devices and projects installed CIIMF SF
Allowed us to meet all the goals set forth by the Mayor and the Governor.
- Supervisor:
- Plan, Organize, Direct and Control staff work
- developing & implementing new and innovative programs, services
- streamlining existing program processes for all DWP customers.
- Plan, Organize, Direct and Control staff work
I have a staff of 8 which includes 2 leads.
9 years of Budget Experience
- Lead Utility Services Specialist:
- Contract management – 4 contractors ULFT Dist Program $18M/yr.
- Given Dozens of presentations to small, medium, & large groups- vendors,
- Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences
- Water Use Efficiency Practitioner I certification
- Water Distribution D1/D2 license.
- I have taken and passed the Certified Energy Manager test
- Taken most of the Supervisor series - completing by next month
Tell us about a situation that you had to address conflict between people; how did you resolve the issue?
(2) employe relationship.
- friendly disagreements escalated to not-so-friendly.
- one provides computer support & other provided WC all types customers
- Sat down with each employee separately and then together to work on a solution.
- Thay had some common goals
- warning given that if actions continued, there would be a counseling and written warning
- If it was to go further, then it could result in suspension or even discharge
- I let them know they don’t have to like each other but they must respect each other
- Fortunately, the 2 employees are getting along and are working well together. I did not have to move to the “Notice to Correct Deficiency” stage.
What supervisory methods do you use to ensure that staff meets deadlines?
I determine what tasks are necessary to meet the deadline or deadlines and I delegate these tasks to employees, based on their skill sets.
Give ownership of the tasks to employees so they have vested interest in the outcome. They determine how best to perform the tasks.
- do my upmost to provide equip & training
- chronic problems achieving deadlines due:
- staff not understanding important role in organization;
- staff not adequately recognized for their performance;
- no definitive way to measure their performance;
- insufficient staff;
- Make sure to monitor their progress, without micro-managing.
- Hold my staff accountable for completing tasks
- Example: meetings with Leads –
- Given them charge of the majority of our programs and services
- Talk about what is working and what is not
- When all these things are in place and good two-way communication exists, employees will do incredible things for the organization
EEO Question - how do you ensure that your staff understands EEO; race, ethnicity, gender?
Goal of having the work force represent the demographic of the city as a whole.
I would ensure that all supervisors, understand the following:
- Have general familiarity with EEO policies, procedures, resources
- Use Job-related skills only in daily employment decisions
- Maintain a work environment free of discrimination
- Attempt to informally resolve any complaints
- Disseminate information to employees
Offering assistance in employee’s career development
Document personnel actions
- The LADWP has a Zero Tolerance Policy Standard
- “Equal Employment Opportunity” means the right of all people to work, to be treated equally and fairly, and to advance on the basis of ability and potential – without regard to their (RCS NA RAED SO) race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation.color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
Name the following projects you worked on:
- Required you to understand the DWP inner workings
- Demonstrated your ability to effectively manage a major project and direct a team while addressing opposing views from internal and/or external sources.
- Most challenging
- MFTAP after higher institution asked for it
- Started CITR program
- Mandate to increase the number of projects in TAP by 5Xs in 3 fiscal years
DWP Organization Question – tell us about a project you worked on that required you to understand the DWP inner workings. If you do not have direct experience, tell us how you would do it.
The direct experience I had in this was when I made some major changes to an in-house program with management and LADWP Board approval, to accommodate customers who were unsatisfied with the program at that time. The change, from start to finish, took 3.5 months. 2.5 years later we rebated over 23,500 Ultra High efficiency toilets for a savings of over 281,700,000 gpy.
- Large institutional customer told a LADWP Board member, that their proposed massive water conservation project stymied by current program terms
- Wanted vendor install 4,000 high efficiency toilets and get paid directly.
- Current non-LADWP outside program did not allow a rebate for this type of project.
- Required an immediate response.
- Decided to use existing in-house program
- Several changes to be made and Board-approved before implementation started.
- Barriers had to be overcome before implementation:
- Cost effectiveness barrier
- My staff and I recommended cutting edge toilet technology, 0.8 gpf vs. 1.28 gpf was standard
- Bureacratic barrier
- to allow LADWP Board Hierarchy approval for my boss
- Budget barrier:
- Were able to take budget from an underachieving program and move it
- My staff Leads and boss helped me write the resolution
- The resolution was put on the Board’s calendar and was approved.
- 4,415 UHETs were installed at this institutional customer and ther rest by other customers
- Cost effectiveness barrier
What factors should you consider before you discipline an employee?
Goal is for employee to overcome the behavior for which discipline is indicated and to develop a pathway to satisfactory performances.
Two-way street – requires involvement/engagement/willingness of employee and not progressive discipline is important for employee and organization.
Documentation throughout the process is critical.
Contact Employee Relations Office
Did I set a performance standard that most employees could meet?
Does the employee have ample training to meet the performance standard?
Must warn the employee and get his/her feedback?
- Progressive Discipline
Implementing the disciplinary action.
- Oral warning
- Give in private
- one-on-one - super and employee- may want observer (witness)
super prepares personal reminder documentation
Written Notice
- Use “Notice to Correct Deficiencies” - NTCD
- explain what is expected in future and possible consequences
- send copies of NTCD to business unit office and ERO - goes in employee’s personel file
- Suspension or Discharge-Notice of Discharge, Suspension or Probationary Termination
- Obtain approval and signature of appointing authority
- give to employee personally
- explain reasons what is now expected and what further disciplinary action might result
- discharge notice served personally
- certify that notice was served on employee and return to Personnel
What is the most challenging project you have worked on?
The most challenging project I worked on was a mandate to increase the number of projects in a program by 5Xs in 3 fiscal years. Increase from average of 6 projects to 30. I met that goal and increased the projects to 53 in 3 years and the savings went from 33 MGY to over 100 MGY.
- To meet this goal, I saw my objectives for this assignment to be fourfold:
- to satisfy internal and external customer concerns;
- to increase customer acceptance of the program
- to improve the customer experience;
- to increase participation to 30 projects/year with my given staff and budget.
- Found out that my employees needed more training on projects
- First, I developed and immediately implemented training programs
- Second and at the same time as Step 1, I directed my staff and LADWP’s Public Affairs department to start a TAP marketing program.
- Third, using the tools developed from training, I directed my staff to aggressively pursue projects through personal outreach with potential participants.
- Also had meetings with Premier Account Execs group to offer free water conservation audits for the large commercial customers they represented.
- Vendors are a great resource for selling technologies that customers can use for water conservation projects.
- Lastly, I found that giving my staff greater responsibility with projects led to increased job satisfaction.
Describe your most relevant work experience that best demonstrates your ability to effectively manage a major project and direct a team while addressing opposing views from internal and/or external sources.
My team and I developed a new commercial landscape program while addressing opposing views from internal and external sources in 3 ½ months.
- LADWP had a residential turf removal program. It provided lower Commercial rebates,
- Strong opposition from landscape vendors, commercial customers who believed an inequity existed between the two types of rebates.
- Worked with my staff landscape experts and they determined that more water, on average, is used on commercial turf than residential. Helped justify a new program.
- My team and I put together a new program called the “Commercial/Industrial Drought Resistant Landscape Incentive Program” Board-approved fully implemented 3 ½ mnths
- The opposing forces seemed to be satisfied with the final program and quickly took advantage of it.
A new program needs to be marketed. What would you do to market it?
The Marketing Tactics are the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Promotion, and Placement.
Product: an item that a customer demands
In our case is the water conservation equipment we are rebating/free
Price: this is the price a customer pays for a product
For a rebate must have it at a level that optimizes the participation
in our case it is the rebate we pay for the product such that the customer is reimbursed for the cost of the product and the installation.
Promotion: all methods of communication that marketing provides to the customer so that he/she will buy the product
Placement (Distribution): providing product at place which is customer convenient.
How do you overcome resistance from employees and other and implement change?
Recognize and respond to employees’ feelings
Keep employees informed about changes, being realistic but emphasizing benefits
Give employees opportunities to ask questions about change
Implement change by building on successes – communicate successes as they occur
Set reasonable deadlines
Involve employees first that are not likely to be enthusiastic about the change.
- Example: Was working on making substantial changes (2) in-house programs
- Both of the programs administration duties will be moved to an outside contractor.
- The reasoning behind that we will receive more financial support from the Metropolitan Water District since they hired the outside contractor
- Therefore we will spend less money per rebate which means we can do many more rebates for the same expenditures
- My employees may see this as taking their work away
- I will let them know the reasons for making these changes and that this will give them the freedom to work on other type of projects
- Knew there would be some unenthusiastic employees so I had them take over some of the responsibilities in the transition
Name the successful work habits for a manager.
- Listen to what your management, employees and customers are telling you.
- Be a role model
- Blow Your Team’s Horn, Not Your Own
- Focus on Your Team’s Strengths
- Accentuating positive attributes of team members than by working on their weaknesses.
- Having a passion for achievement and self-improvement.
- Don’t Manage, Lead -Increasingly, people are both able and required to manage themselves.
- Be yourself - don’t try to be someone else, if hired probably management must be satisfied with who you are
- Delegate work to Supervisors and employees (in absence of Supervisor)
- Appraise Supervisor performance
- Understand budgeting well
- Be a creative program designer
- Understand budgeting well
As a manager how would you handle a Sexual Harassment complaint?
- Take prompt action
- Be a neutral and thorough fact finder
- Check personnel records
- Document investigation
- Make a good faith determination
- Do not withhold information/make false representations/effort relieve employer of liability
The Department’s Policy
- Prohibit all forms of harassment
- Protect against retaliation
- Offer accessible avenues of complaint
- Train employees/supervisors on the law
- Ensure confidentiality to the extent possible
- Provide a thorough and prompt investigation
- Ensure that prompt and appropriate corrective action is taken
Deliberate or unwanted sexual advances, request for sexual favors and verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature when made a:
- Condition of employment
- Basis for employment decisions
- Interferes with work performance
What is the Department’s ADA Policy?
- Examine existing work situation
- Reasonalbe accomodation
- Meeting when they come back
- What restrictions interfere with task
- How soon must the task be completed
- What are the budget and available resources
- What is a specific or measurable goal
- What skills and knowledge are required
- Who among my available staff, has those skills and knowledge
- Can I use this opportunity to develop an employee
- What other kinds of support will be necessary
- What are the progress checkpoints
- What specific responsibilities will be transferred
- Maintain successful ongoing communication
- Feedback sessions
How do you judge the success of a project?
Measured by:
- Level of customer satisfaction
- Being aware of Customer concerns by phone, emails, referrals from other employees, or anecdotally from employees
- implement Customer satisfaction surveys
- Meeting the stated goals
- Promising feedback by upper management
- Completing the project within budget
- Completing the project on-time
- Continual monitoring must be implemented
You manage a large number of groups, you have been directed to reduce your budget/staff by 20%, how would you proceed?
- Clarify exactly what part of my group is targeted
- Identify the core budget centers within the targeted
- Prioritize the tasks targeted to be accomplished
- Make sure customer service functions addressed first
- Immediately identify tasks which can be suspended regardless of progress made
- Make sure understand what the high priority tasks are and direct resources to complete them
- establish a plan for completion of suspended tasks when resources become available
- Actual layoffs would be directed by labor union rules. Gain understanding these rules
What should your goals be when you are interviewing others for a position?
Selection Interviews goals:
- LADWP’s goal is to provide equal employment opportunities through a selection process based solely on job-related skills, knowledge, abilities, and personal qualifications.
- comply with City, State, and Federal regulations and guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission
- Maintain documentation that supports and explains the selection decision.
Describe the steps for constructive discipline.
- Responsibility for discipline lies w/employee’s immediate supervisor. Would be me if it was one of my supervisors
- Policy must ensure uniformity of discipline
- Hold a private conference w/employee. Often resolve the problem & give individual opportunity to correct before discipline
- Recognition should be given to the employee who has received discipline and corrected. Equally important recognition be given to employee who does a job exceptionally well.
- Primary goal of this disciplinary policy is to correct employee behavior or performance
DISCIPLINARY ACTION:
Conduct objective investigation
- Objective is to get all available facts including/employee’s story
<u>Making the Investigation-Non-emergency circumstances.</u>
- Initiation: Initiated by the employee’s supervisor who should seek advice of ERO rep before such proceedings are begun.
- Management Notification: Investigating supervisor should notify by confidential memorandum higher management levels,
- Purpose of investigation:
- Review written documentation-ex.: citizen complaints
- Interviw other employees who may have knowlege of the incident
- review performance standards of behavior involved. extent to which employee could reasonably bee expect to know and follow
- Discuss findings and conclusions with employee
- Interview should be private & informal
- may include employee’s rep
- super should avoid arguments-later shows unfair
- super remain objective
- super prepares memo of what occured in interv
How do you make the decision on disiplinary actions?
Must consider the following:
- Department policies, practices, and general standards of conduct.
- Uniformity of past departmental disiplinary actions.
- Reference to Guide to disciplinary Standards
- Reference to the appropriate MOU for addt guidelines.
What is the procedure for discharges or suspension?
Initiate the Skelly (predisicipline) procedure for discharge or suspension.
- Show employee documents on which disciplinary action is based.
- Employee may respond, orally or in writing
- Not intended to
- Give employee written notice of proposed action on Dept letterhead
- be adversary proceeding.
- Tell employee he/she has right to representation
- The appointing authority or designee makes the decision to continue processing papers for suspension or discharge or not.
When will the Emergency Water Conservation Plan terminate a phase?
When the LADWP reports an April 1 forcast of Owens Valley and Mono Basin Runoff >=110% of normal and MWDSC officially states that the sum of its Colorado River and State Water Project supplies exceeds 100% of projected demand- Mayor will recommend to City Council termination of a particular phase.
Describe what you know about the purpose and definitions of the Emergency Water Conservation Plan of the City of Los Angeles?
Purpose of the mandatory water conservation plan is to minimize the effect of a shortage of water to the Customers of the City
- will significantly reduce the consumption of water over an extended period of time
- drip irrigation defined as form of irrigation in which water is delivered in drops directly to plants roots where no emitter produces more than 4 gph
- Even-numbers street addreses ending with 0,2,4,6,8 or 1/2 will use last whole number in address
- odd numbered means 1,3,5,7,9 and 1/2 will use last whole number
- Gray Water means a Customer’s second or subsequent use of water supplied by the Department on the Customer’s premises, such as use of laundry or bathing water for other purposes
- Large landscape area: 3 acres supporting a business necessity or public benefit uses such as - parks, golf courses, schools and cemeteries.
- Recycled water: means water which, as a result of treatment of wastewater, is suitable for a direct beneficial use or a controlled uses as approved by the California Department of Public Health.
- Sport’s field: means a public or private facility supporting a business necessity or public benefit use that provides turf areas as a playing surface for individual and team sports, and does not include a facility on a residential property
Describe Phase 1 of the Emergency Water Plan for the City of Los Angeles.
Phase 1:
- now hose used to wash paved surfaces; use of LADWP-approved water-conserving spray cleaning device shall not apply. Graffiti removal water-pressure devices are allowed.
- must only clean, fill or maintain levels in decorative fountains, ponds, or lakes used for aethetic purposes unless recirculating
- no restaruant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria shall serve drinking water unless expressly requested
- No leaks allowed from pipe or fixture on customer premises.
- no washing cars without self-closing nozzle water shut-off device.
- No irrigating during periods of rain or within 48 hrs after measurable rain event.
- No irrigating between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. Golf course greens and tees, professional Sports Field may be irrigated in order to maintain play areas.
- All irrigatin of landscape limited to no more than 10 mins per watering station; (2) cycles of 15 mins day for rotors and multi-streams. Exempt is 4 gph or less drip and 14 gph or less micro-sprinklers.
- No customer shall use water which allows excess or continuous water flow or runoff onto an adjoinging sidewalk, driveway, street, gutter or ditch.
- No single pass cooling systems permitted
- No installation of non-recirculating systems in conveyor car wash and new commercial laundry systems.
- Hotels and motels shall provide guests with option of choosing not to have towels and linens laundered daily.
- No large landscape areas shall have irrigation systems without rain sensors that shut-off the irrigation systems. Large Landscape Areas with approved weather-based irrigation controllers registered with the Dept are in compliance with this requirement
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USM WC31
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USM SHORTENED25
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USM SHORTENED ALL USM34
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USM Water Quality39
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OLD USM Field Service OLD30
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USM Water Field Service28
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USM IV SAFETY42
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USM Dion, Cathy, Grant23
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USM Mariko28
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USM WATER CONSERVATION 232
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USM SHORTENED WATER CONSERVATION 243
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USM Water MSFS Aprl 1928
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USM-IV CSS 06/13/1930
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USM-IV CSS 06/13/19 COPY24
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Commercial Auditor Training205
