The employees of the City of Flagstaff strive to provide excellent customer service in every program and service we provide to each other and to our community. While customer service is expected of each of us, there are some employees that go beyond our expectations and achieve the extraordinary in service delivery and customer satisfaction.
At yesterday’s City Council meeting City Manager Kevin Burke and the City Council recognized the employees and employee teams with a “City Manager’s Excellence Award”. The awards are built around the five values of the City – Teamwork, Accountability, Communication, Quality and Leadership. The City’s slogan/motto is “Service at a Higher Elevation” so the awards are named after the highest mountains of the San Francisco Peaks – Fremont, Agassiz and Humphreys.
Humphrey’s Award (essentially the employee of the year award)
Kimberly Sharp was presented with the Humphrey’s award, the highest award given and only given to one employee each year. This award recognizes Sharp’s work on the Regional Plan which includes hundreds of hours outside of her regular work week to organize and participate in over 230 public meetings on the plan. She embraces her job and sees challenges as opportunities and disagreements as true community building conversations.
Agassiz Awards
The recipients of the Agassiz Award for Teamwork were the team that facilitated, redesigned and implemented the City’s new sales tax system. The team worked for over two years, bringing the City more current with the rest of the industry. They award recipients include: Andy Wagemaker, Ranbir Cheema, Wayne Anderson, Carrie Teich, Chad Stiller, Rick Tadder, Dolores Ramirez, Jenylyn Bills, Sue Miller, Sharon Gonzales, and Robin Mosness.
The recipient of the Agassiz Award for Communication was Chris Monteverde. Chris has worked for the City’s Public Works Division for 15 years taking calls, often from unhappy citizens. During winter snow storms, Chris can receive as many as 200+ calls per day. During these high call volume days Chris has the perfect attitude and personality to handle just about anyone and believes in supplying the best customer service everyday regardless of the issues at hand.
The recipient of the Agassiz Award for Quality was Nicole Woodman. Nicole’s commitment to quality in the organization has been demonstrated multiple times in her project management of the City’s multiple solar panel installation projects. Also worth mentioning is Nicole’s leadership has helped put Flagstaff on the map as a City leading the charge in Sustainability practices.
The recipient of the Agassiz Award for Accountability was Flagstaff Police Detective Casey Rucker. Detective Rucker demonstrates extraordinary work ethic and commitment to excellence in his work. Rucker’s attention to detail has made him a consultant and training officer to other detectives in the division. Rucker is also responsible for the creation of the child abduction response team.
The recipient of the Agassiz Award for Leadership was Glorice Pavey. Glorice coordinates all of the special events for the City through Recreation including the annual Halloween Harvest and Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. She is recognized for her leadership role in the Dew Downtown Urban Ski & Snowboard event, making it a signature event for Flagstaff with significant economic benefits for downtown businesses.
Fremont Awards
The recipient of the Fremont Award for Teamwork was Patrick Brown. Patrick is a Senior Procurement Specialist. He has demonstrated his teamwork and exemplary customer service and last year handled approximately 33 procurement projects.
The recipient of the Fremont Award for Quality was James Duval. As a 24 year employee with the City of Flagstaff Capital Improvements Section, James is exceptional and consistent in demonstrating the value of quality. James shows unyielding commitment to the organization and his work program. He has earned a reputation of delivering high quality projects within budget and he is routinely assigned the most difficult and often high profile projects.
The recipient of the Fremont Award for Accountability was William “Rod” Liebe. Rod was hired recently as a Lake Mary Instrument Technician. Taking the initiative, Rod led the replacement of aging servers at the water plant and identified areas for improvement and enhanced security. Rod has single handedly saved the City money that would have been spent on outside vendors by providing the exceptional and accountable service in the City’s utilities division.
The recipient of the Fremont Award for Communication was Cpl. Charles Hernandez II with the Police Department. Cpl. Hernandez provides excellent customer service to every citizen he comes into contact with. He is highly respected by dispatch and the other civilian employees he works with. Hernandez is bi lingual and provides excellent communication service to our Spanish peaking customers as well.
The recipient of the Fremont Award for Leadership was Police Officer Dave Saurer. Dave has excelled and has taken on many informal and formal leadership roles including representing the City regularly as the Captain of the Honor Guard and as the administrator of the electronic citation program at the Police Department.
The City Manager Excellence awards are presented annually. Nominations for the awards are provided by citizens, employees and the Council. The City Manager makes the final selection.