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  GOLD -  Members of the SCCPAYROLL Project Team, including:
Top Row, Left to Right:
Gary Prochazka, Mark Buxbaum, Paresh Patel, Brandon Duncan Middle Row, Left to Right:
Mo Schillinger, Sally Huber, Gale Daniel, Cynthia Ogg, Sarah Longley, Mary Olivares
Bottom Row, Left to Right:
Michele Resendez, Mary McAllister, Franchezca Diaz, Petra Rohrkemper, Judy Pappas
Not Pictured:
Terri Cobbs, Becky McBride, Yolanda Pao

After two years of in-house development, a web-based application was created to replace the County's aging mainframe Personnel and Payroll system, a project that was not only part of the County's IT strategy to move off the mainframe, but was also part of the County's Government Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan. Given the magnitude of the project, it would ultimately affect every County department as well as numerous outside agencies and special districts. Team members from Information Services, Personnel, and the Auditor's Office undertook the many tasks associated with defining, developing, testing, and ultimately rolling out a new payroll system that mimics the former application, while adding enhancements to make data entry easier and less error prone. The new application was tested through parallel runs of the old and new system, a critical step which involved significant staff time but ultimately ensured that all users could do their tasks correctly while providing data validation that had not previously been possible. The expertise and attention to detail demonstrated by each member of the team resulted in an outstanding application that provides new features and responds to new demands with relative ease.

  SILVER -  Alisa Pura, General Services Department

Alisa is a Senior Accounting Technician in the General Services Department. She is a trusted and valuable member of the department's administrative staff and consistently demonstrates outstanding research skills and incredible attention to detail in all aspects of her work. As a result of a shortage of staff in other departments who formerly handled the fiscal recovery following a disaster, Alisa assumed the task of organizing the multi-million dollar claims and the associated reams of documentation resulting from the devastating fires of 2008 and 2009 and the storm of early 2009. The accounting work involved in processing five separate disaster events and ensuring that the County's eligible reimbursements are received from state and federal bureaucracies is an enormous task, but one which was made easier as a result of Alisa's meticulous record keeping. She also assisted the County Administrative Office by processing payments to numerous contractors related to the construction of the Watsonville Courthouse and the Animal Services Authority's facility on Seventh Avenue. Alisa's expert handling of these demanding assignments with professional acumen and steady demeanor, while still maintaining her existing workload, is truly deserving of public recognition.

  BRONZE - Shannon Sullivan - County Counsel's Office

As an Assistant County Counsel, Shannon represents the Human Services Department in child abuse and neglect cases. She is deeply committed to children, families, fairness, justice, social workers, the protection of the County, and the betterment of the Santa Cruz County community. She consistently devotes her efforts to ensuring that the County's child dependency system is a model system for child protection and legal fairness. Shannon spends countless hours making necessary modifications to comply with changes in the law and best practices in child protection, thereby promoting safety and stability for children while protecting the County from considerable financial liability. She is recognized as an expert in the child dependency system and has been invited to speak at child protection conferences across the state, sharing her legal expertise with other attorneys as well as child advocates and foster parents. Shannon is a shining example of an employee who consistently works to better the lives of children and families in our community, and her efforts are to be commended.