MESSAGE FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER
The 2022 U-Matter event celebrating part-time staff was held on Thursday, September 8th at Laguna Town Hall. Staff was treated to a dinner prepared by Mac Que’s BBQ and ice cream for dessert, served by the District’s Department Heads and Directors.
The event was kicked off with welcome speeches from Board President Jaclyn Moreno, Parks & Recreation Administrator Phil Lewis, Fire Chief Felipe Rodriguez, Director of Parks and Neighborhood Services Steve Sims, and Chief of Planning, Design, and Construction Paul Mewton.
Part-time staff was recognized for 5,10,15, and 20 years of service as well as achievement awards. Please join me in congratulating the following award recipients.
• Community Impact Award – Osean
Vang, Teens & Sports
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Beyond the Call of Duty Award –Angela Hunter, Facilities
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Helping Hand Award – Faith Provost, Sports & Facilities
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Best New Staff Award – Eric Weiner, Facilities
• Award of Excellence – Ian Dunham, Aquatics
As I reflect on the U-Matter event for part-time staff and prepare for the upcoming Years of Service and Excellence & Achievement Awards event for full-time staff, I feel incredibly grateful and count myself lucky to work alongside such an incredible group of professionals.
Your integrity, dedication, and professionalism, strengthen our organization and our community. Thank you all for your generosity, commitment to exceeding expectations, and passionate approach to providing services to all our residents.
I look forward to gathering this week to continue recognizing and celebrating District staff.
Joshua Green, General Manager
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October 2022
#1 CAUSE OF HOME FIRES: COOKING
In 2016, Fire Marshal Lantz Rey investigated a fire in a condo complex. The fire started at the stove, ran up the cabinets, and spread along the ceiling. Ultimately the fire found oxygen through a nearby bedroom window; the fire spread to the upstairs unit and then across the roofline. The fire ended up damaging 8 different units; displaced 22 people and caused an estimated 1.9 million dollars in damage. Residents of one of the upstairs units had to be rescued off their balcony. The fire started when the resident forgot a pan on the stove and left to take her dog for a walk.
With October being Fire Prevention Month, the Fire Prevention Division is kicking off a new series. Over the next few months, the focus will be on the top 5 causes of home fires. Appropriately, the series starts with cooking fires, as cooking is the leading cause of home fires.
Cooking fires account for 49% of home fires between 2015 and 2019. As we approach the holiday season, we want to share a few reminders about cooking safety.
1. Stay in the kitchen while your frying, grilling, boiling, or broiling food.
We all multitask, busy families can be cooking, cleaning, and helping with homework and laundry all at the same time; but it’s important to stay in the kitchen. Our sense of smell or the smoke detector is likely the first way the fire is identified; if we are outside, or in a distant portion of the home we may not hear or smell the issue until the fire has reached a critical stage. If you must leave, set a timer on your phone. “Siri, set my timer for 2 minutes”…most individuals don’t go far without their phones.
2. Keep anything that can melt or burn away from your stovetop.
Spice racks, oven mitts, food packaging, utensils, and towels all need to be kept away from your stovetop. These items help any fire spread from the stovetop to the cabinets. Many times, items near the stove will melt or ignite without touching the burner. Play it safe, keep 18” clear on either side of the stovetop.
3. Don’t throw water on a grease fire
Many of us have been taught to throw flour or some other substance on a grease fire. Don’t. When cooking with grease, keeping a lid nearby that
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#1 CAUSE OF HOME FIRES: COOKING
can cover and smother the fire is your best bet. Once covered turn off the burner and let the pan cool completely. For a large grease fire, GET OUT, call 911 and close the door behind you.
4. For an oven fire, keep the oven door closed.
If you have an oven fire it will likely stay contained inside the oven, unless of course, you open the door. Instead, we want you to turn off the heat, leave the door closed and call 911. Your oven is designed to keep the fire inside the appliance. Fire Crews will come out and using thermal imaging cameras determine if the fire has expanded beyond the inside of the oven.
Compliance when cooking is a primary concern. We get busy, we get distracted, and we have an issue. Tip 1 keeps us alert. Tip 2 gives us a buffer just in case we make a mistake. Tips 3 and 4 ensure we don’t make the situation worse.
Cooking can bring our families together for a meal, be an outlet for creativity, and even be relaxing. The Fire Prevention Division hopes that these reminders keep you and your family safe during the holiday season.
For more information on cooking fire, please visit https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fi re-causes-and-risks/Top-fire-causes/Coo king
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JACK HILL PARK REVITALIZATION
The revitalization of Jack Hill Park has begun, and construction is in full swing. The new play area for children ages 5 to 12 makes quite a large footprint in the park and lessens the amount of high water-use turf. Typical goals of our park revitalization projects are to decrease water usage, increase sustainability, and update equipment to the newest standards and regulations.
This project is much appreciated by the surrounding community. Many neighbors have voiced that they have lived near the park since it was built, some 29 years ago, and are extremely excited by the
OASIS RECREATION CENTER
Construction is nearing completion on the new Oasis Recreation Center. Located inside Oasis Park, this multifunctional facility will offer daytime preschool programming through the District and a recreational amenity for community members looking for rental spaces to host birthday parties or events.
The 4,000-square-foot building includes two large rooms joined by a central spine with restrooms and a kitchen. The Center is expected to open in early spring 2023. Pictured below is the rendering.
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HEALTHY KIDS EXTRAVAGANZA
On Saturday, September 10th, the Parks and Recreation Department celebrated National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month by hosting the Healthy Kid Extravaganza at the Wackford Aquatics Complex. With a goal of getting community members moving, 42 free swim lessons, obstacle courses, both land, and water-based fitness workouts, and educational outreach on healthy eating choices were offered. The event was a success; with 296 participants.
PARKS AND REC EMPLOYEE OF THE QUARTER
Austin Collins received the Employee of the Quarter Award at the Parks and Rec staff meeting held in October.
Austin has been with the District for over ten years and in July of 2022 became the full-time Recreation Coordinator for the Partnership and Events Section. Austin immediately held large responsibility for important aspects of the Giant Pumpkin Festival (GPF) including procurement, contracts, and scheduling of three stages for entertainment. He also assisted in logistics leading up to GPF and managed entertainment throughout the festival weekend.
Stay tuned on upcoming programs and events hosted by Parks and Recreation!
Programs & Events
His hard work immensely contributed to the success of this year’s events.
Congratulations, Austin!
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PROMOTIONS:
SEPARATIONS:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
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Raul
Fimbrez IT Management Analyst, Sr. NEW HIRE September
Anthony Bailey, Facilities Operations Technician Isaiah Padilla, Park Maintenance Supervisor Eric Sturges, Park Maintenance Supervisor
Joseph Lieber, Firefighter Gary Volkman, Firefighter
Director of Human Resources Golf Maintenance Aides Recreation Leader Recreation Coordinator Recreation Instructor Recreation Intern Recreation Specialist
