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Fall 2005
Career Development Training:
Navigating Your Career Development in County Government - back to top
Tuesday, October 25, 2005 EOB Auditorium.
11:30 am -1:30 pm
- How to develop the skills you need to progress within your organization
- How to find opportunities for advancement in the County
- How to plan and assess your career development for your best options
- How to develop your own portfolio and increase your employability
Panelists will share their experiences and tips on managing career paths through
enhanced communication skills, networking, training and other relevant skills
Panelists:
- Gordon Aoyagi, Director, Department of Homeland Security
- Shu-Ping Chan, Community Outreach Manager, Offices of the County Executive
- Ginny Gong, Director, Community Use of Public Facilities
- Angela Washington-Bivans, EEO Manager, Office of Human Resources
- Stan Wong, Division Chief, Department of Permitting Services
To register for this training course, call the OHR’s Automated Registration Line on 240-777-5122.
Training session #10208
All participants will receive a complimentary lunch
Co-sponsored by: Asian Pacific American Employees Association,
Office of Human Resources,
Montgomery County Diversity Council
Greetings APAEA Members! - back to top
We have started a quarterly bulletin to help provide all our members with information of training/workshops, current news/issues, and upcoming events
APAEA is committed to serving its members. Its mission is to represent and foster Asian Pacific Americans working at all levels within Montgomery County Government by encouraging cultural awareness, facilitating inclusion and diversity in the workplace, and supporting professional development of Asian Pacific Americans inCounty Government.
We hope you find this bulletin helpful and informative. We welcome your ideas and comments.
Eduardo Mondonedo, APAEA Chairperson
 UP CLOSE
An Interview with Gordon Aoyagi, Director, Department of Homeland Security , By Laura Chin - back to top
Gordon Aoyagi, head of the County's new Homeland Security Department, is one of two Asian Pacific Americans who heads a County Department. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, but calls Denver, Colorado, his childhood home.
During World War II, his parents along with 110,000 Japanese Americans, were relocated to internment camps. Gordon's parents were relocated to Arizona from California. He says he was created in camp, but born in Dayton, where is father found work after being released from the internment camp.
The family then went to Denver, Colorado, after Gordon was born a place that Gordon fondly remembers. He went to Colorado College at Colorado Springs and received his Master's Degree from the University of Colorado.
He served in the U.S. military, serving at Fort Carson, Colorado; attended Intelligence School in Maryland, and then served 18 months in Vietnam.
Gordon served as a 2nd Lt. during the Vietnam War. Vietnam, he says, was a country where America was not involved in nation building at the time. There was an indifference to the Vietnamese and their culture, he noted, and some degree of racism. Gordon had encounters in Vietnam where he had to pull rank and his intelligence badge, times when he was called a gook -- perhaps due to the war's confusion and high emotions.”
Returning Home and Moving East
After his military service, he returned to Denver and worked for the Denver RTD (Regional Transportation District). He then went East and moved to Westport, Connecticut, as Executive Director of Westport's transit system. He stayed there for a few years, but then Salem, Oregon, offered him the opportunity to head the new Salem area mass transit district. He accepted.
Due to the nature of transit management, he says, he looked at going to bigger transit systems. Salem had 50-60 buses in their system, and Ride On in Montgomery County, Maryland, had 200-250 at the time.
Ride On was looking for a transit chief in the late 1970s, and Gordon applied. He was selected and became Division Chief of Transit Services. He served seven years as head of the Division, and was then asked to be a Senior CAO by the County Executive.
County Council passed legislation five years later, creating a new Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service to be headed by a civilian. The head of Fire & Rescue was to be somebody who was used to dealing with policy bodies. He was selected as the first civilian Fire Administrator.
After 9/11, the County looked at command structure, integration, and standardization within the Fire & Rescue Department, and created new Fire Chief. The position he held was eliminated -- an action which he supported -- and a new Fire Department with a uniformed fire chief was created.
Heading the Homeland Security Department
As Director of the new Homeland Security Department, he has few HSD staff, with several employees detailed from other county agencies, including police, Fire & Rescue, and public health. His biggest challenge, however, is coordinating with Federal and State agencies and the 17 to 23 regional jurisdictions. We need to stay focused,” he said, and prepare, prevent or respond and eventually recover.
The Department receives $1 million from the State annually, and that is used to help support police, public health, and transportation. Very little is used for staffing needs.
“While there is no specific funding for community outreach,” he says, “we work through the Office of Emergency Management and work at the regional level for a national readiness campaign; we work with Human Resources and do outreach to special populations and language minorities. We hope to see significant progress for resident preparedness in the next few months.”
Taking Risks
At one point Gordon was the only Asian American fire chief nationally, and the only Asian American manager of a public transit system in the country.
There are not enough APAs in County government. The many Asian Americans has met, Gordon notes, are technically competent and efficient, but some do not think about their career paths to assume positions of authority in the County. Breaking the glass ceiling may be one of perception and self confidence,” he says. “A person needs to take and manage risks and assert leadership. It's a mindset change that needs to be addressed, he points out.
“…we are a county that embraces diversity and there are opportunities here to serve the community…. We need to demonstrate that we are capable and effective managers,” he stresses, “with the interest and the motivation to seek more opportunities.”
Round Table Meeting - back to top
APAEA is planning a bi-monthly series of Roundtable Meetings so you can meet with Asian Pacific American Headliners – people who are making or breaking the news for the Asian Pacific American community.
The Rountable Meetings will be limited each time to the first 20 people who RSVP to the meeting date announcements. Bring your lunch, we’ll provide drinks and dessert.
Headliners will be both inside and outside the county government. The December APAEA Roundtable will have as a special speaker:
- Steve Thom
Deputy Director, Community Relations Services, U.S. Department of Justice
Steve will talk about his Federal career, the Asian American Civil Rights Movement, and the work of the Community Relations Servce and his work in the Gulf Coast states after Hurricane Katrina and Rita.
Date: December 6, 2005
Time: 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Place: EOB Lobby Conference Room
Let Us Hear From You - back to top
APAEA wants to hear from you about issues affecting your employment and upward mobility. We’ve held two training sessions on “Projecting Better You Through Body Communication” and “Beyond Body Language: Solving Communication Issues at Work” to present issues that affect you. A third workshop on career development will be held October 25, 2005 at the EOB. Let us know what you need to address your concerns for your career development. Contact any of the APAEA officers through the County e-mail or call us.
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