The Heart Behind Met's Capital Investment Plan
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Planning Metropolitan's bi-annual Capital Investment Plan budget is tough, but that's where
Tobin Tellers’s
experience and expertise
comes in. As Section Manager for Engineering Services,
Tobin
assembles representatives from each Metropolitan group to evaluate the merits of every proposed capital project.
"Working with our Finance staff, we decided how to best spend $250 million for this current fiscal year, and another $250 million for FY21-22," says
Tobin
, a Loyola Marymount University engineering alumni.
Starting last September, this evaluation team met weekly to review 450 active and proposed projects to score them on a rigorous rubric based on risk, safety, seismic vulnerability, obsolescence, cost and energy savings, length of project, the current state of design and construction, and other factors. After four months of reviewing, the team arrived at 247 projects "above the line." That is, those that were proposed to be included in the planned CIP expenditures.
In January,
Tobin's
team met with the group managers to refine and further prioritize. Some funding always scores high, for example, those that ensure CRA water delivery reliability - Metropolitan's core mission. This year, $55 million will go toward power lines, sump pump rehab and crane improvements at desert facilities. A total of 67 new projects were among those approved at the April Board meeting, including the replacement of 50-year-old flowmeters.
Described by colleagues as a "walking CIP encyclopedia,"
Tobin
is thankful for all of his section's 65 employees. After a 36-year Metropolitan career, he's retiring later this year. "It's been a good run,” he said.
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First Meeting of DE&I Council Marks Milestone
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The pandemic and recent social movements have brought to light issues of inequality across the country. At Metropolitan, we are committed to fostering an environment that addresses inequalities and allows diverse voices/ perspectives to be heard.
Last week, more than 40 representatives from employee resource groups, bargaining units, Chairwoman Gray and executive management held the first meeting of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Council.
Common themes expressed by participants included those of hope, unity, and a desire for actions that will create a lasting impact at Metropolitan and the communities we serve.
Speaking at the meeting, Chairwoman Gray stated, “Diversity makes our organization work better, it provides ideas and solutions to the complex problems arising in our increasingly changing and diverse world.”
An initial work plan has been developed for the Council but is intended to evolve and incorporate broad input from participants.
“We understand an initial plan had to be drafted for this meeting, but the concern is that it was created without any of our input. Going forward, we would like the liberty to rearrange the work plan elements as we determine their priority,” says
Black Employees Association President
Tuannee Holmes
.
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Life Lessons from Farming Benefit Metropolitan
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Growing up on a 1,000-acre homesteaded ranch in Lassen County, located in the northeast corner of California,
David Bradshaw
learned to raise crops and care for cattle. His parents taught him to walk the land and to watch the weather.
“While I wanted to ride my motorcycle through the fields to inspect the alfalfa, my parents insisted on boots-on-the-ground to know our land and crops," he recalls. This work ethic shaped his career as a farmer, as a water manager for the Imperial Irrigation District, and as Metropolitan’s Agricultural Liaison.
While dry farming worked for decades,
David’s
parents recognized the value of bringing water to the land. They were the first generation to add an irrigation system with the construction of two deep wells. Of course, this meant that
David
and his brother had to manually move the irrigation lines.
Today the family farms a smaller Lookout Ranch, in Modoc County. They grow barley, wheat, alfalfa, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), and orchard grass. Before coming to Metropolitan,
David
taught university classes on agriculture and irrigation for nearly two decades and was a multiple-term mayor for the city of Holtville in Imperial County.
David
brings the lessons he learned from his parents and the land to his work with farmers on Metropolitan’s property in the Palo Verde Valley and the Delta Islands. He also tracks agricultural trends and issues throughout California and the Southwest. And he makes it a point to head back to the Lookout Ranch to help out on his parent’s farm and stay connected to the land.
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