FPUD names Employee of Year

FALLBROOK — It’s not very often that a leaky pipe is a good thing, but it is when you’re Tony Brencola, the Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) Employee of the Year for 2006. The utility worker manages to find excitement and see the silver lining in just about anything.

“I love working leaks,” said Brencola, a 13-year employee of the district, “because you never know what you’re going to get with a leak. It makes the day exciting.”

He confesses, however, that a leak loses some of its luster in winter, when it’s cold outside and he has to get wet for long periods of time. And when questioned further about on-the-job challenges, he admits it bugs him when he’s called to a site and he can’t help as much as he’d like because the source of the leak is on the customer’s side, not FPUD’s.

“That bothers me,” he said, especially if the customer is elderly or a single woman who has no idea what to do. “I offer to shut off the valve and I ask them to call a plumber for help, but it still bothers me when I can’t help them more.”

Having a big heart and a strong desire to do the right thing is a big part of the reason employees voted him Employee of the Year. Even when tragedy struck him last year – his mother and father were killed in a car accident – Brencola continued to step up to the plate for FPUD.

Brencola has been named Employee of the Quarter three times in his 13 years with the district.

“If somebody helps me, I like to thank them and let them know,” Brencola said. “So it’s nice to be appreciated back. It’s nice to have that come back to me.”