Annual Meeting PAGE 3

Volume 2, Issue 3 December 2009

Feature: Kearny Mesa Courthouse PAGE 6

SDCCEA VISITS SACRAMENTO TO LEARN AND LOBBY PAGE 10

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I would like to begin my new term as President by first and foremost thanking the many members who have shown their enthusiasm for SDCCEA and me. I appreciate the best wishes, helpful comments, suggestions and encour-agement. We have a formidable task ahead of us and it will take an ac-tive, involved and informed mem-bership like you to go forward and improve our wages, benefits and working conditions. Your interest and your input are essential for the success of your Association. I know firsthand the chal-lenges our members face each day and I am determined to address them. I understand the important role your Board plays, and I am dedicated to fulfilling it. I have spent two decades in

the California court system. I began in Alameda County before coming to San Diego and have experience in domestic, small claims, felony, misdemeanor, civil and traffic courts. I have a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Upon joining the SDCCEA Board of Directors in 2005, I served two terms as 2nd Vice

President, one term as Secretary, and five years as Chairperson of the Bylaws Committee. My experience also includes participation in the Wage Conference in 2009 and service as a member for the re-opener contract in June 2008, resulting in ratification of the contract. I understand that we face economic challenges, and I’m con-fident we can overcome them. The obvious answer is unity. If we stick together as a strong and united organization, we have a significantly better chance to achieve what we deserve at the bargaining table. If we join with other court clerk organizations and powerful labor unions, we will have a more influential voice in the halls of government. Again, thank you for your comments and suggestions. I will rely on you to help SDCCEA in the important days ahead.

The Task Ahead

Board of Directors:President: Annette Robinson (Central) 1st Vice President: Scott Seyler (North County)2nd Vice President: Jennifer Louis (East County)Secretary/Historian: Elaine Sablan (Central)Treasurer: Cindy Schmidt (Central)Directors: Amy Shillingburg (Central); Mary Brooks (Probate Services);

Leonard Lugo (South Bay); JoAnn Pickrell (North County); Crystal Woods (Central); Gwen Jones Bethel (East County); Don Smith (Central); Andreen Fitzgerald (Central)Employee Labor Relations Manager: Wayne Palica

San Diego County Court Employees Association

9455 Ridgehaven Court, Suite 110, San Diego, CA 92123 858.565.2232 • web site: www.sdccea.org

President’s Message By Annette Robinson

Holiday Greetings

The Board of Directors wishes all SDCCEA

members a happy and healthy holiday

season.

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SDCCEA held its Annual Meeting on October 16th at the San Diego Police Officers Asso-ciation union hall. Well over 100 members attended the informa-tional dinner meeting. The gathering began with a welcome by newly elected 2nd Vice President Jennifer Louis, who served as the meeting’s em-cee. Louis called the meeting to order and introduced 2008-2009 SDCCEA Board Members Amy Shillingburg, President; Cindy Schmidt, 1st Vice President; An-nette Robinson, 2nd VP; Hong Au, Treasurer; and Directors Elaine Sablan, Joanne Prickell, Mary Brooks and Scott Seyler. She also welcomed newly elect-ed members Crystal Woods and

Gwen Jones Bethel.

New Executive Board members for 2009-2010 have been elected. See accompanying story on following page. The meeting covered important union business, in-cluding the President’s and Treasurer’s reports and updates from SDCCEA Labor Man-ager Wayne Palica and General Counsel Richard Castle. The evening also included a catered dinner by Juan Villa and desert from Culinary Concepts, and an amazing raffle. “We actually gave away ‘furlough days’,” explained Louis, a longtime board member and union representative. Louis said the Executive Board decid-ed at a recent meeting to raffle off furlough days – compensat-ing members for eight hours at their rate of pay. “It was really neat and the highlight of the raffle. It was the top prize and it

was the very first thing I raffled off. Then I surprised the crowd and said, ‘did I mention we have more than one furlough day?’” The raffle offered a wide variety of prizes, including gift certificates, goodie bas-kets, and prizes donated by law firms, vendors, individuals and businesses in the area. They included A Better Body Salon and Day Spa, Amanda Opoluch, Aztec Flower Market, Bahia Resort Hotel, Bruce M. Beals, Esq., Callaway Vineyards, Casa de Oro Travel, Feuerstein and Murphy, LLP, First Class Adver-tising, Integrated Labor Solu-tions, Janet Morse of Cookie Lee, Jeremiah Sullivan, Esq., Jessica Cantrell, King Stahlman Bail Bonds, L & L Hawaiian BBQ, Law Offices of Lopez and Lopez, Law Offices of King Aminpour & Associates, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Pacific Media Group, Rachel Palou, Attorney Richard H. Castle Jr., Wax and Go Day Spa, and WAGE.

Festive Spirit at Annual Meeting

President’s ReportBy Amy Shillingburg

continued on page 8

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Newly elected President Annette Robinson makes her goal clear with every e-mail she sends or answers. Under her name she boldly states: committed to serving each member with honor, respect and integrity. “Our members are dedicated to their jobs and the people they serve, and they deserve to be represented by an employee association that cares about their needs.

It is my promise to each SDCCEA member that I will do everything in my power to help guide the Board of Directors in serving our fellow court members honorably, yet strongly, while keeping their best interests at heart.” Robinson follows Amy Shillingburg, who served as President since 2005 and remains on the board as a director. The new Board of Directors, elected at the

annual meeting, includes Scott Seyler, 1st Vice President; Jennifer Louis, 2nd Vice President; Elaine Sablan, Secretary; and Cindy Schmidt, Treasurer, replacing the departing Hong Au. Crystal Woods, Gwen Jones Bethel, Don Smith, and Andreen Fitzgerald are new directors and will be serving with Directors Mary Brooks, Leonard Lugo and JoAnn Pickrell.

Annette Robinson Elected President

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Memories . . . By Outgoing PresidentAmy Shillingburg

As your outgoing presi-dent this is an appropriate time to review some of the progress the executive board has made during my administration. I would also like to congratulate incoming President Annette Robinson and, as I will remain on the board, offer her my sup-port and best wishes. I had been part of the SDCCEA negotiating team in 2000/2001 and joined the board three years later and was elected President in 2005. During those first aggressive years we became an agency shop and a union for all employees. We moved into new offices and began to strengthen our organization with orientation sessions, an-nual meetings and open houses. For the first time we negotiated release time to orient new em-ployees. With a supportive mem-bership base we turned our attention outward and formed a coalition with court labor orga-nizations in Orange County, Riv-erside and San Bernardino. Our objective was to build strong relationships and to assist each other with information and sup-port. Another step forward was to establish a job description,

interview, and hire a full time Employee Labor Relations Man-ager. We were fortunate to select Wayne Palica and now have an experienced professional who represents our members in a knowledgeable and professional manner. We also hired a lobby-ist to represent our interests in Sacramento. Together we worked on your behalf to sup-port legislation that benefits our members and fought legislation that negatively impacts you and other court public employees. In my tenure as president of SDCCEA, the Executive Board worked vigorously on the many issues that plagued em-ployees in our bargaining units. We were a reliable voice for all

SDCCEA members. I feel I have helped lead San Diego County Court Employees into a new and exciting era of change. I would like to end by thanking the Board of Directors and our many members for their encouragement and support. Since many of the board mem-bers will remain, I am confident that under the leadership of Annette the many progressive programs that we initiated and developed will go forward.

Visit Your SDCCEA Web site

http://www.sdccea.org/

BenefitsCalendarContact InformationKnow Your RightsResourcesNewsImportant Updates

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Kearny Mesa’s quaint, two-story, older building may be decep-tive. While it may not be as new or large as other courthouses, it has a vital role in the county’s judicial system. It serves as the county seat for traffic cases, and handles small claims and some juvenile infrac-tions. More important, this bus-tling courthouse couldn’t function without the professionalism and dedication of over 100 SDCCEA members. “It’s a pretty hectic, very busy courthouse that has dedicated public servants that I’m proud to call our members,” SDCCEA La-bor Manager Wayne Palica noted. “They also deal with and meet the challenges that they are faced with extremely well. The way they serve the public, handling the frustra-tions that come with traffic court,

is admirable.” The courthouse was visited in September, the day following the first mandated furlough day, and the membership was in a surpris-ingly good mood. Although reac-tions to the directive were mixed, most members felt that considering the severe budget cuts to the court system, a furlough day would make the best of a difficult situation. “I spent time with my fam-ily. It was really nice to have a day off,” member David Wong said at the time. That sentiment was repeat-ed by member Freddie Mae Nelson. “It was nice having the day off. Too bad it was without pay.” “We are glad we have only one day at this point. It could be worse. The DMV clerks have three days a month,” Court Operations Clerk II Nicolee Hill said more

recently. “And we are also glad no one is getting laid off, but the man-datory day off does make our jobs harder.” Hill said the clerks try, but the backlog keeps building. “The workload is crazy. Humanly, you can’t keep up. It makes it harder for us to stay ahead, it takes longer to get things done, and that’s when human errors happen.” But with a sense of true professionalism and a spirit of cooperation that is second-to-none, SDCCEA members have banded together. “We are all a team here,” she emphasized, adding that the smaller facility is a close-knit group that feels like family. A large number of the mem-bers are also long-time employees who enjoy a good relationship with management. “The supervisors are very flexible. They are also open

Feature: Kearny Mesa Courthouse

Abraham Perez Annylu Martinez Carrie Krystoff

Cyrus Baluyot David Vera David Wong

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to listening to your suggestions,” Hill said. “I’ve always had posi-tive experiences with my supervi-sors, and we get things worked out. Sometimes things work a lot more slowly than we’d like them to because of the bureaucracy.” “We have had some changes with supervision and managers, and the members are working to-gether to make a challenging situa-

Kearny Mesa Courthousetion as positive as possible,” Palica reiterated. The association is also looking for a member to serve as a representative, he added. “We are looking for a member to serve as a union liaison assisting fellow Kearny Mesa members. It would be terrific if someone would step up to the plate and help out. It can be very rewarding to assist your

coworkers in this capacity.” Interested members are highly encouraged to contact Wayne Palica at the SDCCEA of-fices to learn more.

“More important, this bustling courthouse couldn’t function without the professionalism and dedication of over 100 SDCCEA members.”

Freddie Mae Nelson and Renee Steele

Inez Amezola Jessica Franco and Winona Gois

Jesskoe Salas and Amelia Vazquez Joan Hughes Kristine Snyder

Lauree Brown Madria Bugal Rebecca Williamson

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Membership Annual Meeting Because of the generosity of these donors, SDCCEA was able to give away over 60 prizes. “I want to thank everyone who attended. The growth and involvement over the past several years has been tremendous,” SDCCEA Labor Manager Wayne Palica pointed out. “The participation by the membership is a great thing to see.” SDCCEA would also like to extend special thanks to the San Diego Police Officers

Raffle Winners

Warren Smith, Frieda McCurley, Jessica Franco, Mike Berger, Rosie Schach, Ken Holland, Cendia Sanchez, Crystal Woods, Zonna Lucas, Mary Ann Martin, Lorena Quintara, Pamela Townsend, Scott Seyler, Valinda Lloyd, Kathy Raab, Ruth Vasquez, Nicolee Hill, Maribel Pacheco, Janet Morse, John Vanwanseele, Carmelita Ignacio, Rebecca Vela, Renato Amora, George Valentine, Mary Spiesman, Angelina Albanese, Candace Schaeffer, Freddie Mae Nelson, Mary Bates, Diannah Smith, Martha Aguilar, Richard Ignacio, Jan Eagle-Dixon, Ana Munoz, Troy Ahrensberg, Cora Paradeza, Doreen Brooks, Inez Amezola, Christine Snyder, Melissa Bodtke, Andie Fitzgerald, Hector Lanza, Lorena Oliveros, Dorthy Henton, Amelia Vasquez, Amy Shillingburg, Ana Salazar, Gwen Jones Bethel, Chris Daly, Maria Galvan, Dominador Songco, Thalia Cunningham, Mariel Reece, Helen Storey, Elaine Sablan, Mary Brooks, Angela Albanese, Bruce Fallon, Kris Schaffer, Rosemari Via, Jennifer Louis, Elvia Rodriguez, Marianne Caldwell, Gloria Cervantes, Charles Balmaceda, Rose Falk, Donna Jones, Annette Draper.

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Association Board of Directors for the use of their facilities. “SDCCEA is very appreciative of the Association’s contribution. Providing their

Membership Annual Meetingvenue saved SDCCEA a great deal of money and we are grateful for their generosity,” Palica added.

In preparation for an inten-sive lobbying effort the following day, attendees were briefed on what to expect, how to communicate effectively with legislators, the dos and don’ts, and an overview of talking points. On the 2nd day, an unpaid furlough day, the delegates made ten visits to important elected of-ficials in both houses. Although the legislature was not in session, SDCCEA met with either the Chief of Staff or Counsel of everyone from the Speaker of the House to the chairpersons of influential com-mittees. The ten meetings included representatives of: Senators El-len Corbett, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Mark Leno, Chair of Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee on Health and Hu-man Services, Labor and Veteran Affairs, member of the Judiciary Committee; and Dean Florez, Chair Governmental Organization; Speaker of the House Karen Bass; Assembly Members Mike Feuer, Chair Committee of Judiciary; Ted Lieu, Judiciary Committee; Bill Monning, Chair Labor and Employment Committee; Noreen

Members of the Board of Directors who attended included Annette Robinson, Scott Seyler, Elaine Sablan, Cindy Schmidt, Amy Shillingburg, Mary Brooks, Gwen Jones Bethel and Crystal Brooks. Labor Representative Wayne Palica also joined the mis-sion. The sessions began on No-vember 17th with an intense orientation and training session conducted by veteran union lobby-ist Libby Sanchez. The first session included seminars on the budget process, teaching those present how funding goes through the sub-committee and budget confer-ences. The second session dealt with the legislative process, with attendees learning how a bill becomes law and how to read and analyze a bill. The most important aspect of both lectures was that the attendees learned how members and labor organizations can have a voice in the process.

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SDCCEA VISITS SACRAMENTOTO LEARN AND LOBBY

On November 17 and 18, SDCCEA representatives traveled to Sacramento at the invitation of LIUNA Public Employees Local 777, which represents Court em-ployees in Riverside County. The two unions have been working closely in recent years to address issues of mutual concern. Eight members of your Board of Directors spent the two days in budget and legislative training and in the halls of the State Senate and Assembly. One entire day was spent voicing concerns to elected officials and their staffs about how the furlough days have negatively impacted the public, the lack of accountability related to how funds are being spent by the AOC and the failure of the V3 and V4 projects. Their chief concern was financial transparency; when California transfers money from the court’s budget, it must disclose why the money is being transferred and what it is being used for.

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Representatives from SDCCEA and LIUNA Local 777 gather in Sacramento

management, and we take ap-propriate action to ensure that the membership is protected. If you have concerns about a specific situation, do not hesi-tate to contact Labor Manager, Wayne Palica at (858) 565-2232 or wpalica@sdccea.org.

Holiday Wishes

I want to wish all mem-bers and their families a happy and healthy holiday season, fol-lowed by a successful New Year.

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I would like to point out some of the stories in this issue and tell you why they are signifi-cant.

Annual Membership Meeting Attendance at the Annual Membership Meeting was very encouraging. Spirits were high among the members who at-tended, despite the fact that we will be faced with more staffing and financial challenges in the coming year.

Sacramento Members of the Board of Directors and I traveled to Sacramento to meet representa-tives of the legislature and pres-ent our view. This trip was very important for SDCCEA, as we traveled with LIUNA Local 777, the union that represents court clerks in Riverside County. The Board of Directors knows that building coalitions with other court clerk unions is very impor-tant.

New Officers I wish to congratulate Annette Robinson on her elec-tion as President of the Board of Directors. She is an experi-enced board member, serving as Director since 2005, and has the interests of the members fore-most in her mind. I also wish to congratulate the entire board

Labor Manager’s ReportBy Wayne Palica

In This Issue

and look forward to working together as we face the many challenges of the coming year.

Labor Relations Meetings have been held with management concerning COC 3’s working in the court-room; we are in the process of developing guidelines to en-sure that there is consistency throughout the court. Addition-ally, we are developing a joint training program that will pro-vide additional resources to our Supervisor’s Unit members. We expect to conduct our first ses-sion in February. Any member who has any issue at work, please contact the SDCCEA office. If we don’t know about it, we can’t address it. We work collaboratively with

If Your Judge is Reassigned

The following question has been asked by courtroom clerks: If my Judge is reassigned to a different branch, will I keep my assignment with my judge? The contract does not mandate that clerks stay with their judges when reassignment occurs. Many clerks have stayed with their judges in the past, but decisions on reassignments are based on a case-by-case basis. With the current staffing and public service issues we are facing, this may now impact courtroom clerks more than in the past. Although you are not guaranteed to go with your judge, you should still contact Labor Manager Wayne Palica at 858-565-2232 if you have a reassignment issue.

tives suggested that members, as concerned citizens, should contact their local legislators, write letters to the governor, and contact local newspapers to promote or oppose legislation that they feel is impor-tant.

PRESORT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDLOS ANGELES, CAPERMIT NO. 34694

San Diego County CourtEmployee Association9455 Ridgehaven Court, Suite 110 San Diego, CA 92123

Evan, Chair Assembly Budget Committee; Paul Krekorian, Judi-ciary Committee; and Julia Brown-ley, Judiciary Committee. An important subject that was emphasized to the political representatives was the transferring of $72 million from trial court funding without any oversight. The impact on the courts, when furloughs and closures were initiated, was that funds that were earmarked for the courts for daily operations were no longer available. SDCCEA wants to eliminate furloughs since closing the courts one day per month has substantially increased the workload and caused the backlog to reach unmanageable levels. At each visit your Board members requested that elected officials and their staffs urge the

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) — which has been given the authority to close the courts — but not a mandate to do so, to im-mediately end the furlough days. They also demand fiscal responsi-bility, accountability, and greater transparency of the Judicial Branch budget. “It was the first time I visited the State Capitol,” said Director Mary Brooks, “and I was impressed with the process.” She was pleasantly surprised by the cordial reception the SDCCEA delegation received from the staffs of the legislators and the useful information that was provided. “It was extremely empowering,” she said. Even though it was an unpaid day off for court employees, your Board members were working on your behalf. Several staff representa-

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