Cervantes has more than 17 years of experience in the public library system. To join the County of Santa Clara, Cervantes will be leaving the Contra Costa County Library, where she has held the position of deputy county librarian, public services. Her background also includes service as library director, City of Tigard Public Library, Oregon; county librarian, Pinal County Library District, Arizona; public/adult services manager, Chandler Public Library, Arizona; adjunct faculty librarian, Maricopa County Community College District, Arizona; as well as several librarian positions in various other states.

Cervantes received her bachelor of science degree in education with a minor in library/educational media from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She earned her master's degree in library science from Kent State University and attended the Stanford/California State Library Leadership Institute.

The Arizona Library Association selected Cervantes as the librarian of the year in 1997.

For more information about the Santa Clara County Library, 1095 N. Seventh St., call 408.293.2326 or visit www.santaclaracountylib.org.


SJSU organization hosts disaster recovery seminar

Applied Materials Inc., 2727 Augustine Drive in Santa Clara, will host the Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation's third annual Business Continuity Planning Conference on Nov. 20 between noon and 6 p.m. at its Augustine Conference Center, in Santa Clara. The Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation (CDM) sponsors the half-day conference series every year as a means of information acquisition and exchange among industry professionals involved in business continuity planning.

This year's conference theme is "Building and Maintaining Preventive Programs." Emergency management experts will show how simple business continuity programs and plans are to implement. CDM has invited experts Marcia Cronk of Genentech, who will discuss how to get support from management, and Alex Hesterberg of Veritas Software Corp. He will address disaster recovery strategies.

Three in-depth workshops will also be offered. Raelene Wong, the disaster recovery manager for Solectron Corp., will lead a workshop on the tools available for risk assessment. Other workshops will address development of an emergency response plan, critical incident stress management, and physical and information technology security issues.

Conference co-sponsors include the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, ASIS, Association for Facilities Engineers, Business Recovery Managers Association, California Emergency Services Association, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Emergency Services Coordinator Forum, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Manex, Microelectronic Packaging and Test Engineering Council, Santa Clara County Emergency Managers Association, Santa Clara County Emergency Preparedness Council, San Mateo County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services, Santa Clara Valley Water District and Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

Registration is $65 and includes workshop materials, lunch, and a wine and cheese reception. More information call 408.924.3596 or visit www.sjsu.edu/cdm/ bcpconference.


SC County water district wins clean water award

The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has recognized the Santa Clara Valley Water District for its increasingly competitive stance in meeting the growing expectations of its drinking water consumers and municipal government leaders.

AMWA issued its 2002 Gold Awards for Competitiveness Achievement to the district and 15 other public water agencies.

"AMWA's 16 Gold Award­winning water agencies are setting new business directions in an increasingly competitive water industry environment," said AMWA Executive Director Diane VanDe Hei. "These organizations employ pace-setting management practices to reinvent, reengineer, downsize and reinvest in order to meet the challenges of competition."

The Santa Clara Valley Water District received its honor for using peer reviews, audits, benchmarking and new programs to help it remain competitive.

In 1998, the district participated in the American Water Works Association's Qualserve Program, designed to assist managers with assessing the current state of operations at their particular water utility and identifying performance improvement opportunities. A year later, the district conducted a performance audit of its water enterprise operations for efficiency, cost-effectiveness and for meeting strategic objectives.

Last year, the district began a competitive assessment study of its water utility operations by comparing it to other agencies, and its current competitiveness in terms of costs of services, staff utilization, maintenance philosophy, water rates and work environment.

The exercises led to strategies for correcting any weaknesses and to monitor progress.

"The public has very high expectations for safe drinking water and low-cost service, and local government leaders want water systems to operate like profit-making companies," VanDe Hei said.

"AMWA's Gold Award winners are among the best-operated, most efficient water systems in the nation and are a credit to their communities," VanDe Hei said.

For more information on the Santa Clara Valley Water District, contact Mike Di Marco at 408.265.2607, ext. 2423, or visit www.valleywater.org.