ERIN MASSEY

Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO -- The 50 girls who accompanied their parents to work at City Hall on Thursday were meant to see much more than speeches, tours and demonstrations of various city departments.

They were supposed to see the potential in themselves, participants in the Take Our Daughters to Work Day said.

"This is very good exposure for young ladies," said Jeff Throop, a supervisor in the city's water division who brought his daughter, Amber, 11. "This shows my daughter that there are a wide variety of opportunities available for her."

Dan Higbee, a field engineer in the city's public works department, agreed while watching his daughter pose for pictures outside of City Hall with other daughters of public works department employees.

"This shows her she can do anything she wants," he said. "And all of these girls know each other. So this gives them a sense of strength in numbers."

His 12-year-old daughter's, Stephanie, reason for coming back a third year was decidedly more simple.

"I came back because I had fun last time," she said.

Last year, about 25 children signed up to come to work with employees of the city, said Melody Smith, who organized the event for the city. This year, the city had 50 daughters signed up and Smith said she suspects even more showed up to participate in a mock City Council meeting, tours and demonstrations using the Escondido Police Department's canine unit.

Escondido was one of countless communities nationwide that took part in the ninth-annual event. Last year, 11 million daughters went to work across the country, said Kelly Parisi, a spokeswoman for the Ms. Foundation for Women that runs the effort from New York.

Parisi said she doesn't know how many daughters came to work this year because registration is not required by local agencies and the Ms. Foundation has to hire a company to count the participants. Parisi said the foundation provided guidelines and suggested activities but local agencies create their own day for their own daughters.

"The beauty of the program is it is so simple to organize," she said. "We provide a series of guidelines and tools to help these daughters feel they are visible, valued and heard."

The day started with five girls joining Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler at the council dais lording over the theater-like seats of City Council chambers. Organizers told the girls that anyone who approached the podium and asked the mayor a question received a piece of candy. That resulted in a continuous stream of hard-hitting questions, which revealed that Holt Pfeiler makes about $15,000 a year as mayor and will run again one more time when her term ends in 2002.

Sitting in the back of the meeting was Sam Rivera and his two daughters, Brittny, 11, and Jessica, 5. Sam Rivera said he first brought his older daughter last year. She spoke so highly of the event that his younger daughter demanded to come along this year.

"It is just so much fun for them," said Rivera, who has worked on the city's canals for two years. "And it's nice for them to see what dad does when he leaves every morning."

Rivera added that he likes how the event allows time for each parent to give individual tours of their work environment along with the planned activities. The Riveras also went to the city's filtration plant to see where Rivera spends much of his day, he said.

The granddaughters of Councilman Ed Gallo were given a tour of the City Council offices on the second floor of City Hall, Gallo said.

"I thought it would be interesting for the girls to see this (now that I am a councilman)," he said. "They have never been on the second floor before."

His granddaughter Nicole Johnson, 8, was impressed with City Hall.

"It's big," she said. "I like it here because people say I am cute."

For information on the national Take Our Daughters to Work Day, visit the Web site at www.takeourdaughterstowork.org.

Contact staff writer Erin Massey at (760) 740-5416 or emassey@nctimes.com.

4/27/01