2023 RivCoParks All-Staff Conference

RivCoParks held our 2nd ever all-staff conference on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. The theme of the day was Trails to the Top with over 100 employees in attendance, each participating in learning and team-building sessions.

The half-day conference included a welcome message from the Executive Team, an overview of the District by the General Manager, team activities, learning sessions on finance and planning, and employee recognition. If you missed the conference, or would like to look back on the information presented, here are the presentations for your reference:

GM Update - Overview and Direction

Finance Basics

Project Funding

Problem Solving Team Exercise

Employee Recognition: Service Awards, Nominations for 2022, Employee of the Year and GM Award Recipients

The day concluded with a Question & Answer Session, as well as team photos. You may view and download all of the team photos by visiting our staff photo site: https://rivcoparks.smugmug.com/AllStaff-Meeting-2023/

Questions & Answers

Team members had an opportunity to jot down their questions throughout the conference. Here are the questions addressed at the end of the day:

Question:

Due to the rising cost of living and the raising costs of food, gas, bills, etc., are there any plans to raise County employee salaries to a more sustainable amount?

Answer:

The County has taken several steps to increase employee salaries and benefits in the past year. As a provision of the SEIU MOU, a Minimum Salary Market Adjustment was conducted where:

• Individual Market Surveys were conducted for every SEIU-represented classification (including all Parks classifications).

• Classifications identified as having a minimum salary range below the market median were increased to equal the median of the comparable market.

• If the employee's salary was less than the new minimum salary for their classification, the employee's salary received an increase to the new minimum.

These adjustments were approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors (BOS) on July 12, 2022, and went into effect July 14, 2022. A total of 44 Parks classifications were included in this effort.

Starting January 1, 2023, minimum wage was increased to $15.50/hour which affected the starting salary for both Park Attendants and Public Service Worker classifications.

On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, the Riverside County BOS approved significant increases in medical benefit subsides for employees electing 2-party or family coverage. Human Resources sent a County-wide message to all employees with a description of the changes and included a PDF Announcement with more detailed information.

Question:

Who will run the off-road vehicle park? Will there be a charge to use the park?

Answer:

We're still in the early planning stages for development of an OHV Park. Most likely, we will contract with a private operator once an OHV park is built. As to the second part of your question, there will most likely be fees charged to use the park, similar to all of our park operations.

Question:

What is the update on the Hidden Valley well?

Answer:

The well needed a new pump and the work should be completed within the next week or so, pending weather conditions. There was a slight delay in getting the work scheduled as our service provider needed to re-register as a County vendor in order for their work to commence. Thank you for your patience.

Question:

Related to development impact fees (DIF):

1. Can current needs override original areas that DIF funding is allocated for?

2. Are expanded use funds generally spent on above-ground items (i.e., shiny new stuff)?

Answer:

1. For the past (2010 DIF needs list) new projects cannot override what was originally identified as a need. There will be a new approach for the new DIF needs list once approved and we'll have more flexibility to address current needs.

2. Expanded use funds can be used on above-ground or underground projects so long as the project expands the use of the park (allows us to serve more people, adds new functions, etc.).

Do you have a question that hasn't been answered yet or a suggestion you'd like to share? Submit your Feedback to the GM today!