PSRW Survey Project
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Survey Results
Following are the responses we have received from others who have completed this survey. Take a few minutes now to see how other government workers contribute to public service in the Greater Los Angeles Region, or come back and visit it later. We anticipate this project remaining on our website at least through December 1999. Check back periodically for updates!
We have received responses from many areas of public service. Respondents have included managers, educators, nurses, physicians, inspectors, scientists, medical thechnologists, program analysts, program evaluators, program directors, secretaries, and many others. Here is a sampling of responses from some of those who daily serve the public in the Los Angeles area:
* James from the The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Drinking water to over 16-million people from Oxnard to the Mexican border.
2. What is your job title?
Assistant Chief of Operations
3. Who benefits from your work?
Over 16-million residents of Southern California.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
There would be far less development in Southern California as we provide about 60 percent of all water consumed in Southern California in a typical year.
* Steve from the Long Beach Environmental Health-Housing Section mentioned the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Routine/complaint inspections of licensed housing and swimming pools.
2. What is your job title?
Housing Team Leader
3. Who benefits from your work?
The City of Long Beach as a whole, specifically property owners, tenants.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Licensed housing stock would degrade in some areas causing further degradation of surrounding housing both licensed and unlicensed. This would also impact local businesses.
* Mimi a Microbiologist tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Laboratory Testing
2. What is your job title?
Microbiologist Supervisor
3. Who benefits from your work?
City of Long Beach, Department of Health and Human Services. The laboratory acts as a reference lab to clinical and other public health labs as well. We act as a support entity to the rest of the department, i.e., we provide testing to our own programs, clinics, and special studies being conducted.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
As a Public Halth Lab, we are here to provide testing in support of our programs (as I've mentioned above). Clinical labs are required by both federal and state laws to submit "reportable diseases" for either confirmation or identification of the suspected organism. Without a public health lab and regulations put upon on these clinical labs, there will be no standardization of tests, no confirmation on tests that are currently only being offerred by us. Historically, laboratories other than public health labs are somewhat "lax" with their testing despite rigid regulations. They don't have the kind of training public health lab staff has. Also, public health came into being with the community in mind; and we still work behind that principle.
* Bob a retired Personnel Analyst (among others) said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
30 years with the City of Los Angeles as Personnel Analyst and other positions.
2. What is your job title?
Sr. Personnel Analyst (among others)
3. Who benefits from your work?
The residents and visitors of the City of LA
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Less well-trained employees
5. Additional Comments:
Don't forget those who used to provide public service.
* Dwight a Painter Supervisor from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Painting of Los Angeles County local parks and recreational facilities
2. What is your job title?
Painter Supervisor
3. Who benefits from your work?
The local communities are able to take pride in their parks and recreation facilities when the facilities are kept newly painted and looking clean. Graffiti is removed promptly and as a result it discourages future vandalism.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
If the parks and recreation facilities were never painted and graffiti never removed those building would become a target for vandalism and degrade the atmosphere and pride of the communties
5. Additional Comments:
Our graffiti removal program has had a dramatic impact on the appearance of East Los Angeles area parks specifically. Rapid response to graffiti vandalism with a fresh coat of properly applied paint or removal through water blasting seems to have finally discouraged an age old community problem.
* Deborah from the County of Los Angeles said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Registered Nurse - Quality Assurance Nurse for Trauma
2. What is your job title?
Staff Nurse
3. Who benefits from your work?
Provide Trauma Statistics for the Dept. of Health Services and for LAC/USC County Hospital. Provide Data for Quality Assurance and Improvement for LAC/USC County Hospital in the Trauma Dept.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
I believe we would lose our Trauma Contract with the Department of Health Services to provide a Level 1 Trauma Hospital. Also, a loss of Grant Monies for certain research projects for the Hospital.
5. Additional Comments:
The Trauma Contract also helps to provide monies to the hospital through tabacco tax and other monies given for patients with trauma related injuries via county or state.
* Susan from Los Angeles County noted the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Human resources services to employees of the L.A. County Department of Health Services
2. What is your job title?
Human Resources Analyst
3. Who benefits from your work?
County employees
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
County employees would not have needed human resource programs, policies, and services
* Walter from the LA County Medical Alert Center said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Coordinate the transfer of patients into the L.A. County system of hospitals, assist prehospital care personnel with the disposition of patients in multiple casualty and major disasters
2. What is your job title?
Senior Emergency Patient Transfer Coordinator at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services EMS Agency
3. Who benefits from your work?
Potentially everyone in Los Angeles County. Transfer of indigent patient is our day to day activity, but anyone requiring the vast resources of L. A. County Department of Health Services hospitals is potentially a candidate for transfer. We also monitor the diversion status of all hospitals in the county. Paramedics and base station hospitals fequently contact Medical Alert Center (MAC) via the H.E.A.R. radio network for current diversion status in order to determine the most appropriate destination for injured or ill victims in the field. We are also the burn victims placement center for L.A. County. We assist with the placement of patients who are involved in scuba diving accidents and require treatment in a hyperbaric. MAC is also considered a resource for all medical problems. We do our best to help anyone who request service.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Prior to the implementation of MAC in L.A. County there were horrendous and multiple cases of patient dumping. Without a system to transfer patients in L.A. County indigent patients could run up high bills in private sector hospitals. People in real need might not get the type care necessary for their well being.
* Bonnie from the GAO says the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Oversight and management reviews of federal programs
2. What is your job title?
Senior Evaluator at the United States General Accounting Office
3. Who benefits from your work?
Managers of federal programs as well as those to whom they provide service; Congress and their staff and constituents; and students and researchers.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Congreesional leadars would not have data on which to base the need for programs. None of the above groups could look with some time of certainty on how federal dollars are spent and the resultd.
5. Additional Comments:
Those in non-government positions probably could not fathom the challeges and significant learnings that I've received as a BUREAUCRAT over the past 18 years.
* Kathrene from the FEB said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Facilitate the delivery of Federal Government services throughout the Southern California Region.
2. What is your job title?
Executive Director, The Greater Los Angeles Federal Executive Board (FEB)
3. Who benefits from your work?
The FEB has three primary missions: (1) Strengthen the Management & Administration of Federal Services, (2) Improve Intergovernmental Coordination at the local level and (3) Promote a positive image of the Federal Government throughout the community.
Each of these areas serve numerous individual taxpayers and organizations. Our principle customer is the 145 Federal agencies who comprise the FEB. However the partnerships we develop with State and Local Governments benefit public servants at all levels of government. The outreach conducted with local Education and Social Service Non-Profit Organizations provide direct services to school children and taxpayers in a number of different pulbic service occupations.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
The Federal agencies efficiency and cost-effectiveness would be reduced. By collaborating on projects, the FEB assists our member agenices in maximizing synergy and minimizing redundancies. The sharing of resources saves the taxpayers money. Our intergovernmental outreach results in reducing duplication and strengthens the development of a more coordinated approach to several levels of government working togther to meet the needs of the community we serve. The community outreach allows the Federal agencies and employees to provide direct services to the taxpayer in areas often times unrelated to thier agency mission, e.g., donating excess computers to area schools or volunteering to mentor "at risk children". By educating the public on the myriad of services available to them from their Federal Government we will hopefully increase utilzation of these much needed programs and make the process for obtaining access to them more user-friendly.
* Dee Ann from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Public health
2. What is your job title?
Epidemiology Analyst, Los Angeles County, Department of Health Services, Public Health Programs & Services - Injury and Violence Prevention Program
3. Who benefits from your work?
All residents of Los Angeles. Our department provides intentional and unintentional injury-related health surveillance data, as well as assistance with program planning and evaluation. In addition, we collaborate with a number of organizations on the local, state and federal level.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
No one would be tracking injury-related data on a consistent basis for the County. Organizations both locally and in the state depend on that information to get baseline data for certain injuries, in order to more appropriately target prevention and intervention efforts, as well as to evaluate specific program effectiveness.
* Frank from the LA Harbor Department says the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Transportation and commerce
2. What is your job title?
Director, Management Services Division, Port of Los Angeles (City of Los Angeles, Harbor Department)
3. Who benefits from your work?
Shipping companies, buyers and sellers of products, the community at large
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Loss of economic well being in the region due to reduced trading activity.
* John from Los Angeles County notes the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Capital improvements to parks and recreation facilities
2. What is your job title?
Assistant Director - Capital Projects Agency, County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation
3. Who benefits from your work?
Park users in general, community groups, Senior Citizens groups, children, youth.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
If funding for capital improvements to parks was not available, existing park facilities would suffer from disrepair, new facilites could not be constructed, and the public would not receive a quality park experience.
* David from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Development, oversight and monitoring of the Benefits Issuance system and contracted vendors for issuance of most Los Angeles County CalWORKS, GR and Food Stamp benefits.
2. What is your job title?
Administrative Services Manager I, Los Angeles County, Department of Public Social Services, Finance Division, Benefits Issuance Section
3. Who benefits from your work?
Hundreds of thousands of public assistance benefits for CalWORKS, General Relief and Food Stamps in Los Angeles County and the issuance vendors (contracted Check Cashing Outlets)that handle the distribution of these benefits to individual recipients and their families.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Hundreds of thousand of individuals throughout the county would not have the means to pay for their food, clothing, housing, etc.
5. Additional Comments:
I welcome this demonstration of service by the American Society for Public Administration. As a past member of a more "stagnant" ASPA, I also welcome any greater efforts toward an increased professionalism of County managers.
* Marsha from Los Angeles County mentions the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Control of communicable diseases, with a focus on STDs, TB, immunizations, hepatitis, etc
2. What is your job title?
District Health Officer, Los Angeles County, Dept of Health Services, Public Health Programs and Services
3. Who benefits from your work?
Everyone in the County.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
People would be dying of Tuberculosis, children would be dying of common childhood diseases like measles, diptheria, whooping cough, more women would develop pelvic inflammatory disease and men and women would die or become sterile from sexually transmitted diseases. Many more people would die from meningitis, hepatitis, food poisoning and other diseases that are now largely controlled by our efforts.
5. Additional Comments:
Other people in my building inspect restaurants to be sure they are following sanitary procedures that don't cause disease. They also check to be sure the water supply is safe and not contaminated.
* Annie from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Overpayment informatiion to participants
2. What is your job title?
Senior Secretary IV, Los Angeles County - Department of Public Social Services - Finance Division
3. Who benefits from your work?
Welfare recipients who owe Los Angeles County money.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Los Angeles County would not receive monies that were fraudently received
by welfare recipients.
* Hal from Los Angeles County said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Communication network maintenance support for Los Angeles
2. What is your job title?
Section Manager, Network Maintenance, Los Angele County
3. Who benefits from your work?
All County and non-County customers that utilize our communication networks in souuptr of their safety, health, welfare and other required support to run their daily operations.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Our networks would be subjected to outages which would have a direct impact on L. A. County living up to their service level agreements for providing technical support. This support is much needed by nature of the business of the customers that are paying for our services.
* Melissa from Los Angeles County said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
I identify bacteria in a public hospital clinical laboratory
2. What is your job title?
Medical Technologist I, County of Los Angeles -- Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center
3. Who benefits from your work?
Physicians at our hospital benefit because my work: 1.identifies specific organisms which cause a patient's illness, 2. identifies which antibiotic is best suited to treat the patient's illness, and 3. identifies which patients have infections requiring them to be placed in isolation. The patients themselves benefit by getting better quality of care.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Patients would get inappropriate antibiotic treatment because the physician would have to "guess" what type of infection the patient has. The patient might develop antibiotic resistant organisms due to overtreatment, or he might develop a more severe infection due to undertreatment. Potentially contagious patients could infect healthy people unknowingly.
* Suzanne from Los Angeles County related the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Public health
2. What is your job title?
Rehabilitation Counselor II, Los Angeles County - Department of Health Services - Acton Rehabilitation Center
3. Who benefits from your work?
Adult male and female residents of LA County identified as chemically dependent or addicted. Referred by criminal justice system or self-referred.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Untreated alcoholism/other drug addiction leading to incarceration, institutionalization, and the injury/death of community members effected by untreated addiction, frequently including the addict/alcoholic as well.
* Penny from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Administrative Deputy (business manager) -- L.A. County Public Defender's Office
2. What is your job title?
see above
3. Who benefits from your work?
Lawyers, managers and support staff in our office; central staff agencies such as Chief Administrative Office and Dept. of Human Resources
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
There would be no coordination of the budget, fiscal, personnel, supply, facilities and data processing functions of our office. If these functions did not exist, our attorneys would be basically working out of their cars.
* Michelle at California State University Long Beach tells us:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Higher education
2. What is your job title?
Director, California State University Long Beach
3. Who benefits from your work?
College students, public sector employers who hire our graduates, public agencies where our interns work, communities where our alumns work in non-profits, the academic and practitioner communities who benefit from our research and publications, organizations whose members attend our training sessions.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
No one would educate the future public administrators of America
* John from Los Angeles County tells us:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Information Systems
2. What is your job title?
Division Manager, Los Angeles County, Internal Services Department
3. Who benefits from your work?
The LA County Justice community, i.e., District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation, Sheriff, city police departments. Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk & public for elections, vital records, etc.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
The information systems applications that we support would have to maintained by either the owner departments or outsourced to "for profit" information systems maintenance companies.
* Maria from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Hospital Administration
2. What is your job title?
Sr. Sec IV, County of L.A.
3. Who benefits from your work?
Administrators, support staff, other employees, clinic and hospital clients
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Overwhelming work for lower skilled personnel. Lack of support in public/patient relations.
5. Additional Comments:
Public servants at all level of government organizations need to be trained on public relations skills. Big companies spend huge amounts on this area, and governments hardly spend efforts on this.
* J. Yee from Los Angeles County notes:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Personnel
2. What is your job title?
Personnel Specialist, County of Los Angeles, Parks and Recreation
3. Who benefits from your work?
Managers and supervisors of this department who must hire employees
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
would be more difficult to hire qualified and competent employees -- but not impossible
* George from Los Angeles County says the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
County, park and recreation operations.
2. What is your job title?
Assistant Director, Los Angeles County, Department of Parks and Recreation.
3. Who benefits from your work?
All ages of the public utilize park and recreation services
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
There would be no programming or park services
* Beth from Orange County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
public transportation for disabled
2. What is your job title?
Section manager II, Orange County transportation authority
3. Who benefits from your work?
Disabled community in Orange County, agencies and centers providing progams for this population, families who cannot provide transportation to these programs, medical professionals and facilities with disabled clientele, senior population, agencies and centers providing programs for seniors (nutrition or adult day healthcare).
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Unmet transportation need for individuals with disabilities. Could turn into a civil rights issue since an agency providing a fixed route systems is required to provide complementary paratransit transportation program for individuals not functionally able to use a fixed route service. Additional private transportation resources would be in demand to meet these needs by persons with primarily fixed incomes. Agencies providing programs for special need individuals would have to procure services elsewhere, probaby at a higher cost.
* Maurizio a physician from Los Angeles County notes the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Medical
2. What is your job title?
Physician Specialist, L.A. County
3. Who benefits from your work?
Patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C, Patients with HIV infection, Patients with alcoholism and liver disease
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Patients would have to be seen by outside doctors, with less academic knowledge and less direct experience with these diseases.
5. Additional Comments:
The County of Los Angeles has been cutting back on medical costs by curtailing
services to the indigent. At the same time, less funds are utilized to foster
medical advances that would have positive potential for ALL of us. There
must be a way to improve County Medical care and functioning, and I am sure
somebody out there with knowledge of the County budget must have some ideas
on how to properly channel the funds.
* Robert from Los Angeles County tells us the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Counseling and claims assistance for VA benefits
2. What is your job title?
Supervisor, Veterans Claims, Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
3. Who benefits from your work?
Veterans and their dependents/survivors
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
No advocacy for veterans and their dependents/suvivors regarding benefits,
rights, and privileges earned as a result of their military service.
* Vicky an Educational Team Leader from Los Angeles County said the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
I support a team of physicians, nurses & administrators who are designing an educational program for hospital staff who will be implementing clinical re-engineering inititiatives this year (1999).
2. What is your job title?
Education Team Leader, Clinical Resource Management Program Office, L.A. County Dept. of Health Services
3. Who benefits from your work?
1) The team members (physicians, nurses & administrators from 6 County hospitals) for whom I am the communications link and staff in the overall design and development of the educational effort.
2) The hospital staff who will receive the education this team designs by having more efficient tools and systems for use in delivering their health care services.
3) The patients who receive care at the hospitals implementing the clinical pathways and other components of the re-engineering initiative by virtue of the health team having improved systems and tools.
4) The insurers of the patients receiving this care through improved management of their patient's health care.
5) The taxpayers of Los Angeles County who help fund the County health system by getting an improved return on their investment in County government.
6) The residents of Los Angeles County by strenghtening its health system which anyone may have need of due to its role in emergency and trauma care.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
I think the team would have a somewhat harder time making progress on the clinical re-engineering education program which could negatively impact the overall timeline and effectiveness of the implementation of the re-engineering practices which have been designed to date.
* Gerald a Nurse from Los Angeles County notes the following:
1 What public Service do you provide?
Nursing
2. What is your job title?
Clinic Nurse II, Clinic Manager of Hollywood/Wilshire Health Center, Los Angeles County Health Dept.
3. Who benefits from your work?
All .. work in sexually transmitted disease clinic.
4. If no one did what you do, what would be the consequences?
Epidemics of syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, undetected HIV infection, etc.
Please direct comments and suggestions regarding this page to Armando Garcia at agarcia@usc.edu, Thank You!
Updated 2/15/99
