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Honoring excellence in Boulder County public service |
The Pinnacle Awards recognize teams of Boulder County employees who exemplify
the County's guiding
values to provide excellent public service.
The awards are given to teams who demonstrate outstanding teamwork, public
service and innovation in six categories:
- Public Service
- Stewardship and Sustainability
- Public Involvement
- Innovation
- Collaboration and Teamwork
- “Commissioners' Choice” (projects that are unique, creative, or otherwise unusual).
2008 Finalists and Winners
2007 Finalists and Winners
2006 Finalists and Winners
2008 Finalists and Winners
Winners are indicated by an asterisk (*)
Public Service:
- Center for Transition and Employee Development, or CTED
- GENESIS Program
- People Engaged in Raising Leaders*
CTED
The Center for Transition and Employee Development, or “CTED,” was developed
to ensure the long-term quality of Boulder County’s public service through
employee development. This collaborative effort focuses on transitioning the
County’s workforce into the future by attracting and retaining top employees
committed to public service. This is a particularly important mission
considering the unprecedented and ongoing retirement of a generation of
long-term County employees.
CTED provides orientation and training to instill the County’s guiding values
in new and current employees. CTED began its efforts at the same place employees
do: the start. New hires now receive welcome letters with important information
before they come to orientation. CTED revamped the employee orientation to make
it more interactive, to make employees feel welcome, and to integrate them into
our organization and culture.
As part of their orientation, they receive an attractive booklet “Reflections
– Quotes by Boulder County Employees.” This booklet provides quotes from
existing employees about their rewarding work experiences at Boulder County and,
we hope, will serve as an inspiration to new employees.
This redesigned orientation provides our new employees with a meaningful
first impression of the County and a strong start to what we hope will be many
years of providing the Best in Public Service.
CTED also created the Foundations in Public Service Certificate. This
certification program is for new and existing employees alike. It provides a
more in-depth look at the County and our guiding values and initiatives and give
an opportunity for employees to further develop their public service skills.
GENESIS
The GENESIS program works to improve the lives of teen parents and, in doing
so, to improve the lives of the children born to teen parents. GENESIS provides
intervention to interrupt cycles of poverty, substance use, low educational
achievement, and other social concerns related to parenting at an early age.
This important program has achieved measurable results. In the 19 years that
GENESIS has been in existence, Boulder County’s teen pregnancy rates have
declined more than any of the other of the 10 most populous counties in
Colorado. In addition to reducing repeat pregnancies for this high-risk
population, GENESIS has succeeded in helping to reduce low birth-weight rates
and encourage outstanding breast-feeding rates, which surpass national averages
of breastfeeding among women of all ages.
Part of what makes GENESIS such a success is its unique model: GENESIS pairs
clients with former teen parents who can model how they have achieved success in
their own lives. GENESIS also recently launched a home-based contraception
program that makes it easier for clients to delay additional teen pregnancies.
Finally, the program provides ongoing support for parents and the family until
the child reaches three years of age, helping ensure that these children get off
to a healthy and promising start.
PERL
People Engaged in Raising Leaders, or PERL, is a training program designed to
increase the leadership, participation and representation of people of diverse
backgrounds on non-profit boards and municipal and county boards and commissions
across Boulder County. It’s a solution to an issue that has been discussed for a
number of years in our community: the disparity between the population of
Latinos, Asians, African Americans and Native Americans and their representation
on local boards and commissions. The lack of representation by Latinos and other
people of color was primarily attributed to their lack of exposure to leadership
role models, experiences and networking opportunities.
PERL provides the skills for residents to feel confident in serving on
municipal and county boards and commissions, as well as non-profit
organizations. In collaboration with the Community Foundation Serving Boulder
County and the cities of Lafayette, Boulder and Longmont, a successful pilot
training was completed in June 2008.
The inaugural class had 25 participants and 20 graduates. Evaluations show
that these graduates feel they gained the skills necessary from the program to
serve on boards and commissions. A number of the graduates have begun using
their skills in the community, and others will be involved in a mentorship
program to continue their training. Another class is set to graduate this month.
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Stewardship and Sustainability:
- Forest Health Initiative
- LEED Certifications
- Sustainable Energy Plan*
Forest Health Initiative
The Forest Health Initiative is a collaboration among four county departments
to mitigate some of the economic and environmental impacts of Mountain Pine
Beetle infestations in Boulder County.
The initiative provides outreach and education to the public, as well as
opportunities for the public to get involved in addressing the Mountain Pine
Beetle infestation as it becomes an increasingly more important issue in our
county. The initiative also provides specific resources and tools to support our
mitigation efforts.
The Boulder County Forest Health team has partnered with the US Forest
Service, Colorado State Forest Service, and Larimer and Gilpin Counties in their
outreach efforts. County staffing and efforts have been stepped up to mitigate
fire hazards and promote sustainable forest management. Boulder and Larimer
Counties jointly established a community biomass collection site to allow
residents to drop off wood collected from their properties. Finally, the
Initiative included a study of five private entities to determine the
feasibility of using biomass heating for their facilities – an innovation that
would provide a use for collected wood as well as contribute to our
sustainability efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and their related
carbon emissions.
This is a multi-dimensional, well-thought out collaboration that both serves and
involves the public in promoting sustainability through forest health.
LEED Certifications
Buildings create nearly one third of the greenhouse gas emissions in Boulder
County. One of Boulder County’s sustainability missions is to “create energy
efficient, high performance, low-impact facilities that minimize the life-cycle
costs of operations, provide space that encourages high quality public service,
and educates the public and employees.”
This Pinnacle Award finalist combines two separate projects that represent the
two sides of green building to which we aspire: sustainable new construction and
sustainable existing buildings. One way to measure the sustainability of a
building is through certification by the US Green Building Council, which
developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating
System.
The first project completed was LEED-Existing Building certification at the
Courthouse Annex. The Annex is the first County building to achieve LEED EB
certification, and we hope it will provide a template future LEED EB projects.
Built in 1904, the Courthouse Annex building is one of only 20 buildings
worldwide to earn the prestigious LEED-EB Gold Certification. It took a year of
hard work, analysis, planning and implementation to complete the documentation
and modifications at the century-old building. Enhancements at the Courthouse
Annex included increasing waste diversion, updating and re-commissioning of
mechanical systems, improving indoor air systems, developing a comprehensive
building operational plan, and the development and implementation of more
stringent purchasing practices.
The second LEED certification was for new construction. Boulder County
Architects designed and built the new Boulder County Public Health Addiction
Recovery Center to meet LEED-NC standards. The building incorporates a variety
of features ranging from recycled and environmentally friendly materials to
energy efficient equipment to below-ground parking that reduces what is known as
the building’s “footprint.”
These two projects showcase our commitment to being a model of sustainability
in our community.
Sustainable Energy Plan
The Sustainable Energy Plan is the result of a multi-jurisdictional and
departmental collaboration guided in part by the leadership of Boulder County
Land Use, Public Health and Commissioners’ Office staff. Communities
representing over 97% of Boulder County’s population adopted the Sustainable
Energy Plan by resolution this year. By implementing the plan, communities will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 2005 levels and save $445 million
annually by 2020. Most of the strategies pay for themselves in less than five
years.
The plan was developed in a collaborative process involving all of the
communities of Boulder County, business leaders, and local technical experts. It
is the only plan we know of in the country that has this many community
signatories. County Land Use and Public Health staff identified nearly 100
promising strategies from around the world, from which 35 strategies were
selected by the Task Force. A detailed economic and greenhouse gas analysis
quantified the economic and environmental benefits of 30 actions. With
widespread support for the plan, collaborators are now working on implementing
the key strategies.
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Public Involvement:
- A Day for Democracy
- Community Justice Services Work Crew Adopt-a-Road
- Picture Rock Trail at Heil Valley Ranch*
Day for Democracy
Voting is perhaps the most fundamental form of public involvement in
governance. With a record turnout of nearly 200,000 expected voters in the 2008
general election the Clerk and Recorder’s Office recognized that the voting
process would need a lot of help from people other than their staff in order to
ensure the process went smoothly.
Elections judges are an essential part of our democratic elections, as they
ensure that the proceedings run smoothly. In order to make the 2008 election
successful, the Clerk & Recorder’s Office needed to recruit more than 2,000
election judges – no small feat!
Additionally, the long ballot for the 2008 general election meant it would
take voters approximately 30 minutes to vote; thus, the Clerk & Recorder’s
Office also wanted to encourage citizens to vote by mail in order to reduce
lines at polling locations and save taxpayer dollars by reducing election costs.
The “Day For Democracy” recruitment and education effort reached out to
County staff and large employers through a series of targeted marketing pieces.
“A Day for Democracy” appealed to citizens to become election judges in order to
benefit the community, donate their professional skills, enable democracy and
build a resume. The campaign also encouraged citizens to vote by mail.
This campaign was highly successful, as more than 2,000 election judges were
recruited, and more than 121,500 registered voters requested mail ballots for
the general election.
CJS Work Crew Adopt-a-Road
Community Justice Services’ clients are alleged or convicted offenders. The
Weekend Work Crew enables these offenders to complete eight hours of
Court-ordered Community Service a day.
CJS staff realized that adopting a road would be a great way to provide a
work-crew service opportunity for their clients while achieving community
visibility and a real benefit to the community. On April 19, 2008, CJS staff
worked side-by-side with offenders cleaning up portions of South Boulder Road.
In addition to providing a service to the community, the collaborative project
helped build trusting relationships between staff and the clients they
supervise. Community Justice Services also hosted a BBQ lunch for everyone, with
the vision of providing increased time for collaboration and involvement.
Signs were erected along the stretch of road to raise awareness that CJS is a
part of the community and that we care about our environment. CJS plans on
maintaining this section of road indefinitely.
Although other departments have participated in the Adopt-a-Road program,
this program was unique in that it was the first instance where clients, who are
offenders, worked side-by-side with their case managers and their families on a
project.
Picture Rock Trail at Heil Valley Ranch
Boulder County residents highly value Boulder County’s open space programs
and properties, providing both financial and volunteer support. The public
voiced strong desire for creation of The Picture Rock Trail, a connection into
Heil Valley Ranch Open Space. The trail represented a significant project made
possible through help from many committed volunteers, staff and Youth Corps
members.
From October 2007 until the trail’s completion in September 2008, 615
volunteers contributed 3,477 hours at more than 14 events on the Picture Rock
Trail. Volunteers moved rocks, spread pine-needle duff alongside the trail, and
raked and groomed the trail surface itself. Parks and Open Space staff reached
out to a diversity of user groups and community organizations to help coordinate
and support volunteer efforts, train volunteer crew leaders and recruit
individual volunteers.
The partnerships included the Boulder County Horse Association, Outdoor
Stewardship Institute, Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance, REI, Boulder Trail
Runners, Oskar Blues, the Volunteer Connection, New Vista High School, Mafia
Bike Group, and The Hain-Celestial Group.
Through all this hard work, involvement and collaboration, the 5 ½- mile
trail was opened to the public on September 22, 2008.
This project truly demonstrates our commitment to providing valuable public
participation in opportunities that enhance our community. Volunteer experiences
such as these also help develop citizen stewards of our open space and allow our
residents to feel more connected to the open space they have invested in, making
them more likely to invest in open space in the future.
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Innovation:
- Boards and Commissions tracking database
- Boulder County Jail Kiosk Machines*
- Conservation Easement Monitoring System
Boards and Commissions tracking database
Boards and Commissions are one of the most important ways the County involves
community members in decision-making. The Boards and Commissions make
recommendations to the Commissioners on everything from funding for cultural
programs to new job training programs to controversial land use dockets to how
best to protect vulnerable older adults.
Tracking the more than 300 members of the 26 Boards and Commissions appointed
by the Board of County Commissioners is a daunting task. Each board or
commission has its own requirements for how many members they have, who is
eligible to serve, and how long their appointments last. Some people are
appointed by outside entities, while other appointments require the
Commissioners to interview and select candidates from a large pool of
applicants.
A new database with a user-friendly interface tracks applicants and
appointees to boards and commissions, as well as other data such as which seats
are occupied, whether there are any special requirements (such as being a
licensed architect), and the duration of the appointment. The system also allows
the County to quickly update information about resignations and automatically
produce a list of vacancies when it comes time for recruiting new applicants,
ensuring timely, accurate and up-to-date information for applicants and
appointees alike.
Jail Kiosk Machines
 The Boulder County Jail collects nearly 3.5 million dollars per year from
jail bookings, visitors who leave money for inmates, and inmates who are paying
program fees. All this money must be strictly accounted for and has historically
involved a complicated, multi-step, time-consuming process that requires various
individuals to count and re-count cash and change.
The Sheriff’s Office had been considering a request to increase Accounting
personnel to help handle this large workload, but instead they took an
innovative approach by looking at new technology. Their solution was ingenious:
a kiosk that acts much like an ATM, allowing the public to make payments via
machines.
Money is deposited in these machines, electronically tracked and transferred
to the Jail’s Accounting unit for validation, and deposited to the appropriate
accounts. Now, thanks to this solution, Jail staff and Sheriff’s Accounting
staff no longer need to collect, count, transport and physically bank these
funds.
The project has saved the Sheriff’s Office hundreds of hours of staff time
spent collecting, counting and banking money. It has created a streamlined money
management system, with accounting accuracy and safeguards. And it provides a
new, helpful public service: the public can now deposit funds into the kiosk
system through remote locations. For example, family and friends will be able to
deposit money for an inmate’s account from their home computer, local library or
other remote locations via a new Web interface.
Conservation Easement Monitoring system
Conservation Easements are an integral part of Boulder County’s outstanding
open space program, allowing Boulder County to preserve valuable land that might
otherwise be developed. State law requires monitoring of these easements, in
which property owners give up their right to develop their land while
maintaining ownership of the property itself.
In order to better serve the public while reducing the difficulty and
increasing the efficiency of tracking these easements, Parks and Open Space
staff developed the Conservation Easement monitoring system. Before this system
was implemented, most of Boulder County’s 682 conservation easements had never
been formally monitored. Since then, 70 percent of these properties were
monitored in one year – a 200 percent increase over what previously could be
done in a year.
Parks and Open Space initiated a change in state law that requires annual
monitoring only of conservation easements that had a donation component. This
allows local governments to determine their own timing priorities and processes
for monitoring other conservation easements.
Monitoring the easements involves speaking with landowners, conducting site
visits, writing reports and following up on potential violations. In order to
make this process more efficient, this project team researched and created
“Grab-n-Go” files for team members to use when monitoring each of the 243
regulatory conservation easements. The files contain copies of the conservation
easements, maps, aerials, photographs and important records from the Assessor,
Land Use, etc.
The system enables the County to meet its stewardship responsibilities
for these properties, which constitute more than 36,250 acres – nearly 39% of
Boulder County’s open space interests. Altogether, the stewardship program
manages 760 conservation easements that are a critical component of the County’s
open space program.
The program serves the public by putting a friendly face on Boulder County
for people with conservation easements on their properties. Owners now also
receive annual letters from the County alerting them to monitoring visits and
giving advice for controlling weeds, removing Russian olives and other land
management topics.
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Collaboration and Teamwork:
- Alaska Move for Housing Maintenance/Longs Peak Energy Conservation*
- Baseline Road/Platt Middle School Improvement
- Housing Crisis Prevention Project
Alaska Move Project
Earlier this year, some Housing Department agencies made a big move to
Alaska. Not the state – just our new facility on Alaska Avenue in Longmont.
The “Alaska Move” project consolidated two Longs Peak Energy offices and two
Housing Department Maintenance sites into one location at the vacant Alaska
Avenue property. This major project involved much more than a simple move –
nevertheless, it was delivered on time and came in under budget.
This project achieved significant benefits for Boulder County and the clients
served by the Housing Department.
Consolidating crews in one location makes it easier to provide cross
training, crew oversight, crew backup, and inventory control, resulting in
improved customer service.
Moving to a site we own instead of rent saves money, by eliminating costs of
paying rent and paying utilities for a the previously underutilized Alaska site.
Having an on-site fuel pump will save staff time, money and driving miles.
By being more centrally located in Boulder County, the move will make
servicing customers easier.
Finally, the move is expected to save a huge amount of money through
increased energy efficiency. The vacant Alaska site was incurring energy
consumption costs of $25,000 per year. This project included installation of a
new HVAC system, insulation, energy efficient windows, and energy efficient
lighting that will greatly reduce the facility’s energy consumption and
expenditures.
This project was successful because of the teamwork and extensive collaboration
between Housing, IT, Architects, Transportation, and Security. The “Alaska Move”
project was a good example of how inter-departmental groups can work together,
side-by-side, and deliver a project on time and under budget.
Baseline Road Improvements
Transportation plays a vital role in public safety, sustainability and our
commitment to providing top-level service to the public. The Transportation
Department had been concerned with student safety at the Cherryvale/Baseline
intersection near Baseline Middle School for some time. To address an impending
influx of students from Casey Middle School, the Boulder Valley School District
began doing work at the site this year.
With an August 15 school start date, a ditch to cross, a road to pave, a
multi-use path to construct, a pedestrian signal to install and transit stop
improvements required, quick and timely collaboration was imperative. The
Transportation Department worked with the school district and the ditch company
to complete a project that appeared seamless and which has resulted in safer
pedestrian, bicycle, transit and general traffic use at the site and along
Baseline Road.
The three-agency collaboration on the design and construction resulted in
savings of construction time and costs by placing the appropriate elements under
the appropriate contracts for economies of scale.
The project’s focus on improving alternative modes infrastructure also
supports sustainability; now, up to 45 students are bicycling daily, with more
expected with the relocation of Casey students in January. Additionally, an
improved transit stop was constructed on both sides of Baseline Road for better
use by the students of the school. Great job!
Housing Crisis Prevention Project
Although Boulder County is a relatively affluent community, what many people
do not realize is that there are also many low-income residents who are
struggling financially, and who are at risk of slipping over the brink into
homelessness when confronted with a financial crisis.
The Housing Crisis Prevention Project is a collaborative pilot program
between the Department of Social Services and the Housing Authority. The program
includes an “Emergency Crisis Fund” to prevent low-income families from falling
deeper into crisis. The fund provides a “step-up” toward financial stability.
Funds are available for families at or below 80% of the Area Median Income,
currently $59,600 for a family of four. Families in need can receive funds for
up to 4 months, but are required to attend financial management and life skills
class in order to qualify for the second 2 months of funding.
Since April 2008, the Emergency Crisis Fund has awarded $200,000 worth of
assistance to 135 families, including 280 children. Many families have succeeded
with the initial 2 months of assistance, demonstrating that emergency assistance
makes a real difference by bridging temporary financial gaps for those who need
it most.
In addition to providing immediate, vital assistance to those in need, this
program reduces the burden on the supportive services network in Boulder County
caused by families’ social dislocation, disruption of children from existing
school programs, and their lack of adequate housing and basic needs.
This program includes collaborations with Social Services, the Integrated
Treatment Court and Head Start, allowing the Emergency Crisis Fund to connect
and respond to high-need families efficiently. Program staff work to meet the
individual needs of each case, and refer clients to community support systems
and educational opportunities, specifically financial planning and life skills
courses. The program not only provides monetary funds, but also supports
personal skill development.
Finally, the program has demonstrable results: Of the awardees who responded
to follow-up surveys:
- 74% were able to avoid foreclosure or eviction due to non-payment of
rent or mortgage.
- 69% were able to avoid eviction due to non-payment of utility bills.
- 24% were able to keep a job that they had been at risk of losing because
of transportation problems.
- And 19% were able to keep a job that they had been at risk of losing
because of child care problems.
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Commissioners’ Choice:
- The Boulder County Human Services Strategic Plan*
- Community Services Institute, or CSI
- Youth Corps Light Bulb project
Human Services Strategic Plan
In a population with diverse needs, how do you go about creating a community
that meets those needs in an efficient, effective, inclusive manner? That’s a
big question, and this next Pinnacle Award finalist took an inclusive,
collaborative approach to developing a plan to answer that question. The result:
The Human Services Strategic Plan: Creating Caring and Livable Communities for
All.
The Strategic Plan process truly was a community-wide collaboration, with
leadership and input from throughout Boulder County. Our Community Services
department played an integral role in the development of this plan, which seeks
to establish a dynamic, accessible, coordinated, community-wide human service
delivery system.
Among the projects that are under way as a result of the Master Plan are:
- A shared client management data base between four nonprofits.
- A Web-based resource directory.
- Coordinated efforts to ensure health care coverage for children
- More standardized grant applications and program evaluation.
- Shared training and capacity building.
- A community engagement model utilizing a poverty framework.
- And the ability for multi-jurisdictional funders to better leverage
resources and decrease duplications across the County.
Through a process that lasted more than a year and involved hundreds of
participants, they developed a plan that will provide the framework for improved
human services for all county residents. It’s an accomplishment that will have
far-reaching consequences, and one that we are very proud of.
Community Services “CSI” program
This program doesn’t involve hotshot detectives and crime solvers, but it
does involve investigation of a sort - investigation into the answer to this
question: What do a preschooler, an immigrant family, a youth facing detention,
a client with Alzheimer’s and a single working mom all have in common?
The Community Services Institute – or CSI – engages Community Services
employees in a collaborative, team-building effort that for the first time
addresses a department-wide goal: to ensure that all clients receive whatever
services they may need, regardless of the point where they first come in contact
with Community Services.
This approach is called “Any Door is the Right Door,” meaning clients access
the services they request, regardless of their entry point, and referrals are
accessible, appropriate, and focused on ensuring self-sufficiency and stability.
One outcome of CSI was a one-page desk-reference that contains program and
contact info. The program also created the CS Eligibility Matrix, a web-based
tool outlining eligibility requirements for various program referrals.
The new CS blog on InsideBC provides an interactive way to keep employees
better connected to department happenings. And division-specific trainings are
now open to all Community Service employees. Finally, Community Services now
organizes “brown bag” information exchanges with nonprofit partners.
These enhancements provide increased collaboration and teamwork within the
department while providing enhanced service to clients, ensuring that they are
connected to the resources they need to become self-sufficient.
Youth Corps Light Bulb Project
 This summer, the Youth Corps formed a new partnership that provided corps
members with a great service opportunity while providing Longmont with an
affordable labor pool and outcomes that will reduce energy use, save money and
support the city’s goal of being more sustainable.
About half of Boulder County’s Youth Corps applicants each year are Longmont
residents. This year, the city expanded from half a Youth Corps team to a full
one – creating an opportunity for trying out new programs with new partners.
Longmont Water Resources, which normally sponsors the half team, shared their
team with two new Sponsors (Longmont Power & Communications and Longmont Parks,
Open Space & Forestry) to provide enough work to keep a full team busy for the
summer.
Led by Longmont Power and Communications, five Corps members and one Leader
from the Longmont Youth Corps team spent two weeks replacing regular light bulbs
with more energy efficient compact fluorescents in residential sidewalk lights
in Longmont. In addition to saving energy, the bulbs require less maintenance
and last longer – saving the city and its taxpayers money. The Longmont Youth
Corps Team replaced 708 light bulbs during their project.
This was the first energy-saving project the Youth Corps has completed. In
addition, the relationship with new Sponsor Longmont Power & Communications went
well. They were very pleased with the team’s work and have stated they would
like to continue this work next summer and in future years.
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