Our e-blasts and other changes at the Silver Spring Regional Center

NOTICE: Our Silver Spring Regional Center e-blast will be retooled over the next couple of months to better keep you informed. During this time you might experience lapse and/or intermittent delivery. Additionally, you might receive various requests for reply to specific questions to help us design a new more effective and efficient system. Please be on the lookout for these inquires - and reply. We hope to have the new system up and running after Labor Day.

Vicki Lockerman, our Regional Center staff who has so aptly done the e-blasts over the last couple of years will no longer be at the Regional Center as of July 1st , 2011. Due to budget cuts and administrative re-structuring, her position with the Regional Center will not be replaced. (Administrative support for all five Regional Centers, the Office of Community Partnership, and the Commission for Women will be consolidated as one support unit.)

It is critically important that whatever you might have sent Vicki in the past go directly to me until further notice.

SPECIAL NOTE: IT WOULD BE MOST HELPFUL IF INFORMATION YOU WANT US TO SHARE WITH OTHERS IS PROVIDED:

(1) AS A WEB-LINK WITH A SUCCINCT STATEMENT AS TO WHAT THE CONTENTS ARE;

(2) WITH A VERY CLEAR, DESCRIPTIVE, SUBJECT LINE; AND,

(3) AT LEAST ONE WEEK BEFORE YOU EXPECT IT TO BE DISSEMINATED.

I am confident that working together we can continue - and indeed improve! - ways to stay in touch and learn about all the great things going on in our Silver Spring Regional Center area.

There are additional changed going on in the Silver Spring Regional Center. I want to make sure you are aware of these and understand how they impact our work.

Please know that our intent is to creatively respond to our budget situation and realize fiscal efficiencies while minimizing negative impacts on our effectiveness. Indeed, our challenge is to seize this opportunity to reaffirm our core mission, retool some of what we do, and recognize that there might be some things we will need to do considerably different - and some that we will simply may not be able to continue doing.

The staff changes - and responsibilities - in the Silver Spring Regional Center as of July 1st include the following:

[] The position of Program Manager (held by Jewru Bandeh) will be eliminated. (Jewru has accepted a new position with Community Use of Public Facility (CUPF) as the Facility Operations Manager for the Civic Building and Veterans Plaza.)

[] The position of Special Executive Administrative Assistance (held by Vicki Lockerman) will be eliminated. (Vicki has accepted a position with the County’s Health and Human Services.)

[] The position of Weed & Seed Administrator (held by Victor Salazar) will no longer exist when the Department of Justice grant runs out September 30th. This position was with us for the maximum allowable time period, 5 years. (Victor has begun working with the Silver Spring Regional Center’s Urban District to replace Mark Rockman (the supervisor for the “Red Shirts”); Mark recently moved to the Department of Environmental Protection.)

[] The position of Program Specialist II (currently held by Gwen Haney) will be part of a new, consolidated administrative team. (The role of managing the facility - which Gwen did for this past year - is now shifted to CUPF.)

[] The position of Marketing and Promotions for the Urban District (held by Susan Hoffmann) will be officially transferred to the Recreation Department where it can be provided the extensive ‘back room support’ to continue doing the major events in Silver Spring that have Countywide and regional significance (i.e.: the Jazz Festival, Thanksgiving Parade, and Summer Concert Series.)

The Regional Center will rely on a new structure for its administrative support. This new, consolidated ‘business unit’ will serve all 5 Regional Centers, the Office of Community Partnership and the Commission for Women.

Some of these administrative functions will be housed in the Civic Building. The office of the Silver Spring Regional Center Director will remain in the Civic Building. Additionally, some staff from the Office of Community Partnership, interns, and an AmeriCorp position will be here as well; along with the staff from CUPF (the Facility Operations Manager and the Scheduler.)

The Regional Center will work collaborative with these and other County Departments to accomplish our core mission: To be the local “eyes and ears” of the community to County government; and be the County government “on the ground” to the community. The function, staff, and mission of the Urban District remains unchanged: To keep downtown Silver Spring clean and safe.

How all these changes will be manifested in our operations remains “a work in progress”. With your help, we are confident that our Silver Spring Regional Center area will continue ever-evolving as a stronger, more robust place to live, work, shop, be entertained, enjoy the arts, visit, play, and pray.

Reemberto Rodriguez, Director
Silver Spring Regional Center

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