Governor Gregoire Honors 14 Exceptional State Leaders

For Immediate Release: June 8, 2006

OLYMPIA - Governor Chris Gregoire today named 14 state managers as recipients of this year�s Governor�s Award for Leadership in Management. The award recognizes managers in state government who have made significant, sustainable improvements to the delivery of state services.

�Public servants like these are key to an efficient and accountable state workforce,� said Governor Gregoire. �Despite sometimes dwindling resources and often increasing workloads, they have met the challenge. It is a testament to their creativity, professionalism and tremendous dedication.�

Recipients will attend an awards luncheon at the Executive Mansion on June 22, 2006. This year�s awards continue a 20-year tradition in recognizing excellence in government. Managers were nominated by their agencies and selected based on their performance and ability to deliver results.

2006 recipients:

Connie Ambrose, Department of Social and Health Services
As Field Operations Chief of the department�s division of child support, Ms. Ambrose oversees ten field offices throughout the state. To address an increasing workload, she instituted a program to increase efficiency and improve performance. She established a Performance Analyst Workgroup to identify and share best practices and related information with staff, focused her resource allocation on ensuring adequate staffing at the local level and emphasized collaboration and coordination in worker training. In Everett, her collaborative working relationship with tribes in the region gave her the opportunity to help them develop their own child support programs. In Tacoma, staff was directed to prioritize their work based on specific �high value� tasks to alleviate an increasing workload. In Vancouver, the office improved total child support collections in the last year by five percent.

Patricia Busse, Department of Social and Health Services
As administrator of the Clarkston and Colfax Community Services office, Ms. Busse administers community services for three counties. In 2005, she used her WorkFirst local planning area team to help present a two-day poverty workshop that increased the understanding of generational poverty and foster partnerships and relationships in the fight against poverty. Recognizing a need for scheduled public transportation in a community where there was none, she partnered with Valley Transit and the local housing authority to secure grant funding to start a system that provided over 54,000 rides in 2005.

Sandra Carter, Department of Corrections
As superintendent of the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Ms. Carter has worked to instill confidence within the local community that prison operations are efficient, ethical and committed to the safety of staff, volunteers and inmates. Under her leadership, facility violence has decreased by more than 50 percent and systems are in place to keep it that way. As a result, staff absenteeism has been reduced, medical costs and Workers� Compensation claims are down and the costs for repairing damages to the building have decreased. Recent security management and emergency response audits received exceptional ratings. Staff grievances are down, morale has improved and there are fewer injuries from offender assaults.

Victoria DeBoer, Employment Security Department
As the Internal Audit Manager, Ms. DeBoer faced several audit-related challenges in 2005 that could have resulted in lost funding and services. When the department was in danger of losing nearly $1.9 million in federal funding because of improper time-charging practices, she intervened and succeeded in preserving the funding and resolving the issues causing the audit problems. She worked with management to refine and implement a daily time-reporting process statewide. The result: zero audit findings for the first time in six years. In another case, she helped clearly outline office procedures for a local office with ongoing issues, develop a training program and build controls in the technical system to ensure appropriate checks and balances. Since implementing the solutions, the office has had no audit findings.

Kathy DiJulio, Employment Security Department
As Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the department, Ms. DiJulio provides direction, leadership and expertise for Washington�s workforce development programs. In summer 2005, agricultural employers were voicing concerns about a shortage of skilled, legal workers, particularly during peak production periods. Farm-labor groups claimed that only growers who did not pay good wages or treat workers well had difficulties finding workers. Ms. DiJulio met with the various groups to identify issues and solutions. She then designed and initiated a four-month initiative to meet the immediate labor concerns of growers. More than 250 growers and 5,000 workers were served during the initiative. WorkSource made more than 6,500 referrals resulting in about 2,200 hires; a 97 percent increase in referrals and 72 percent increase in hires from the same period the previous year. Due to the success of the 4-month initiative, a new expanded agricultural initiative launched in 2006.

Captain Coral L. Estes, Washington State Patrol
As a captain in the Commercial Vehicle Division, Estes championed an initiative entitled, �Step Up and R.I.D.E.� (Reduce Injury Collisions through Driver Education), in which a trooper rides with a commercial driver and calls ahead to strategically placed troopers to stop aggressive drivers and other traffic violations. She secured a $715,000 grant for a similar pilot project to change driver behavior around commercial vehicles in Washington. The project evolved and became known as TACT - Ticket Aggressive Cars and Trucks. The successful project significantly altered driver behavior in Whatcom, Pierce and Thurston Counties. Ms. Estes also partnered with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the state patrol�s training academy to provide training for 70 school bus drivers. In 2005, school bus collisions caused by bus drivers were reduced by 58 percent.

Alan Haight, Department of Licensing
Assistant director of the finance and administration division, Mr. Haight joined the department in 2002 as manager of the Telephone Customer Service Unit. In January 2003, 172,600 calls to the department resulted in a busy signal. By December 2003, that number had dropped to 1,200. Today, busy signals have been virtually eliminated and the use of self-service options is climbing. The original three division-based call centers have been consolidated and standardized. Mr. Haight�s success can be attributed to his private sector experience in phone center operations, strategic planning and a dedication to process improvement. With staff input, he set measurable goals and performance expectations based on industry standards. In addition, he used the telephone system�s reporting capabilities to help assess the operation and develop solutions to its problems.

Carl Hammersburg, Department of Labor and Industries
As Fraud and Compliance Manager for the Field Operations division, Mr. Hammersburg leads the effort to deter, detect and stop fraud and abuse in the workers� compensation system. For many years the department�s fraud detection efforts were low profile and fragmented. In 2004, Mr. Hammersburg was given the job of designing and implementing an effective fraud prevention and compliance program. Today�s high-visibility program combines six different functional areas into a unified organization and it has achieved spectacular results. Examples include: Collection of $105 million in delinquent premiums, benefits and penalties (up 12 percent); 36 percent more employer audits; 14 percent more worker investigations; a program that publicizes the benefits of reporting fraud and makes it easier for citizens to do so; and a significant increase in cases referred for prosecution.

Carl McMinimy, Department of Social and Health Services
As a Deputy Regional Administrator with the department�s community services division, Mr. McMinimy shares responsibility for delivery of public assistance programs in 13 Eastern Washington counties, the largest service delivery area in the state. In 2005, he focused on improving public access to medical care. By expanding an under-utilized program allowing DSHS staff to be stationed in Federally Qualified Health Centers, he was able to increase the number of staff from less than 10 to 35 financial service specialists and social workers. As a result, between July 2005 and February 2006 his region was reimbursed $756,777 by the federal government and funding will be ongoing. Perhaps Henry Valenzuela, a social worker who is stationed at a health center, voiced the most compelling statement regarding McMinimy�s accomplishment �On a daily basis, I am able to solve problems and if I can�t help them myself, I can help find other resources.�

Nancy Noble, Employment Security Department
As the Benefit Payment Control Manager, Ms. Noble manages the recovery of overpaid unemployment insurance benefits. These overpayments are typically the result of fraud or errors by claimants and can result in huge losses to the unemployment insurance fund. Since becoming manager of the unit in 2001, she has implemented a strategic program to generate a performance-based environment. Performance expectations were developed at the desk level and employees understand their connection to unit, division and agency goals. She supports the team approach to improving a unit�s business practices and encourages her staff to look for better ways of doing things. In 2000, total revenue was $18.4 million; in 2005, it was $41.2 million. The unit now generates more than $18 for every $1 spent.

Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Department of Ecology
As Preparedness Section Manager in the spills program, Ms. Pilkey-Jarvis helps protect Washington�s environment and keep people safe from oil spills. Unannounced oil spill response drills, in which ships and oil-handling facilities run spill drills under the leadership of Ecology spill teams, are a vital tool used to measure response readiness. In March 2005, she worked with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard to successfully orchestrate four simultaneous preparedness drills around the state. In December 2005, Ecology called on Chevron Shipping to conduct an unannounced drill on the Columbia River. The company declined to participate, becoming the first to refuse such a request. The incident identified a weakness in the state�s legal authority to conduct unannounced drills on ships. Ms. Pilkey-Jarvis worked with key lawmakers and agency staff to clarify the issue. In 2006, the Legislature established that the agency has authority to conduct unannounced spill drills on ships entering Washington waters.

Randy L. Simmons, Washington State Liquor Control Board
As Finance Director, Mr. Simmons is responsible for the fiscal affairs of an agency of 1,350 employees and $650 million in annual business. A champion of business efficiency, he led initiatives to improve agency accountability, risk management and technology. In addition to his responsibilities as Finance Director, he was assigned direction of the board�s division of Information Technology Services. Since then the division has completed a major upgrade of �point-of-sale� technology in the agency�s 161 state stores and is implementing a wide area network to provide �always-on, high-speed connectivity� in the stores. As Finance Director, Mr. Simmons led several major initiatives in 2005, including a comprehensive risk management plan that saved the agency $328,000 in self-insurance costs and a rapid invoice processing system that saved more than $80,000 and won an award from the state�s Teamwork Incentive Program.

Janetta Taylor, Department of Revenue
As Assistant Director of the taxpayer account administration, Ms. Taylor leads a work unit responsible for taxpayer registration; tax record maintenance, billings and refunds. Her innovative strategies to improve work processes have increased efficiency and expanded the number and quality of services delivered. Tax return information is now on-line and available to revenue staff located throughout the state and nation within 48 hours of receipt. Tax return errors are corrected within 10 working days. As a result of her commitment to make it as simple as possible for taxpayers to file and pay their taxes, the department continues to see a rise in the number of returns that are filed electronically. The department can now provide immediate education to taxpayers regarding their tax reporting requirements, resulting in greater levels of voluntary compliance. The division has gradually reduced its workforce as a result of efficiencies. In one section, the number of employees decreased from 25 in 1995 to 9 in 2005.

Greg Weeks, Employment Security Department
As Director of Labor Market and Economic Analysis in the department�s budget, policy and communications division, Mr. Weeks leads a group charged with determining the state�s unemployment rate, the average wage for various jobs and for projecting future job growth. For decades, statistical data on the economy, jobs and workers was distributed through technical publications to a limited audience. These publications were updated routinely, but little analysis was done. As technology improved, business and government mangers began to expect timely, accurate and understandable data that could be used to make better decisions. To meet this demand, Mr. Weeks and his staff now determine the information customers need and provide it in the most useful way. His unit moved from simply producing studies and reports to actively meeting with and providing ongoing consultation to customers within and outside of the department. He and his staff now visit communities to identify labor market information needed by workforce development leaders at the local level.


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