GILROY
– Sam Bozzo is in the entertainment spotlight every summer when
the Gilroy Garlic Festival consumes the city for three days. In his
professional life, he’s also in the spotlight.
Bozzo, assistant superintendent of human resources in the
Monterey County Office of Education, was named California’s
Classified Manager of the Year by a statewide educators
organization.
GILROY – Sam Bozzo is in the entertainment spotlight every summer when the Gilroy Garlic Festival consumes the city for three days. In his professional life, he’s also in the spotlight.
Bozzo, assistant superintendent of human resources in the Monterey County Office of Education, was named California’s Classified Manager of the Year by a statewide educators organization.
The energetic Gilroyan creates a lighthearted atmosphere in the office while balancing the more serious aspects of his job.
“My background is in recreation, so I’m committed to making the workplace a fun place to work,” the former restaurant owner said. “It can be stressful, so we try to make sure we have a good time where we work.”
Bozzo said he’s never had a day when he didn’t enjoy going to the office.
He joined the Monterey County Office of Education 14 years ago as director of personnel and was promoted to his current position last July. Before that, he served as director of planning and facilities for Gilroy Unified School District.
Perhaps best known in Gilroy as one half of the hilarious Garlic Festival cooking and comedy duo Saka-Bozzo, with Gilroy Unified School District’s own Gene Sakahara, Bozzo’s ebullient personality shines through in the workplace. Entering the office, he slaps his co-workers high-fives and greets them by name.
“It comes from being in the restaurant business,” he said. His Digger Dan’s restaurant, later called Bozzo’s, used to be a popular local watering hole. “It’s the food that brings them in, but it’s the service … that brings people back.”
Aurora Ortega, senior management secretary who has worked with Bozzo for nine years, said he’s not only a good boss but a good person.
”We go through a lot of stress here in the personnel department, but he always comes up dancing,” she said.
And singing – particularly the famous Mr. Rogers anthem, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”
Being a personnel manager for a county office that serves more than 20 school districts is not all fun and games, however.
One of his priorities is to maintain a safe and confidential workplace.
“We just completed training to let the employees know that they can be our eyes and ears for harassment and that there is a process for dealing with harassment,” Bozzo said. “We try to, on a semi-annual basis, go through and acquaint employees on anti-harassment practices.”
Shortly after starting his job with the Monterey County Office of Education, Bozzo started an employee recognition program that distinguishes both certified employees, like teachers, and classified employees, including secretaries and support staff.
“I believe that every individual in the organization should be respected as a human being, without titles,” Bozzo said. “So I try to practice that on a day-to-day basis.”
When circumstances do require disciplining employees, Bozzo works closely with administrators to make sure that the punishments happen for the right reason, he said.
“He’ll try to work with us if we’re having personal or professional problems in the workplace,” Ortega said. “He’s very supportive, very motivated, very energetic.”
He will be awarded by the Association of California School Administrators in November, adding to a long list of accolades that includes Garlic Festival President in 1990 and the Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year in 1991. He currently serves as chair of the visitor’s bureau and a member of the parks and recreation commission.
He subscribes to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which sees self-fulfillment as one of the overarching human desires.
“When you move to the top of (Maslow’s) pyramid, you’re looking at self-fulfillment, so what are those things?” he said. “I love to cook, so that’s one of my hobbies, and I’m very involved in my community.”
Bozzo uses his culinary talents to bring the office staff together. Several weeks ago, he cooked spaghetti to help the county’s 75 drivers of special education buses raise money to compete in a “bus rodeo.”
The competition includes cleaning and inspecting buses and performing precision driving skills. Two years ago, a Monterey County driver traveled to Philadelphia for the national finals.
“If we’ve had a stressful day, he’ll always bring us something to eat,” Ortega said. “He’ll cook for the unions when having meetings. … We’ll say, ‘Well, Sam Bozzo’s cooking,’ so we’ll get a lot of people.”
As much as he loves being an ambassador of Gilroy and the Garlic Festival, Bozzo wouldn’t trade his daily 40-mile trip to his Monterey office.
“I like where I work, and I like having an opportunity to work with these people,” he said.
