And the envelope please ...
County, court announce employee award winners
The Yuma County Board of Supervisors and County Administrator on Monday announced the 2020 County Employee of the Year, Court Employee of the Year and Safety Excellence Award during the regular session.
The awards ceremony is usually held in the Historic Yuma Theatre, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was delayed for several months and in the end held in the Board of Supervisors Auditorium.
“The success of Yuma County and the superior court are the direct results of the hard work, energy and innovation that are valued employees deliver everyday in service to our organization. I want to thank our employees for what they do day in and day out all day long to serve our community,” County Administrator Susan Thorpe said.
The nominees were
announced in a previous meeting. At that time, Sarah Wisdom, the Yuma County Library District’s community relations manager, noted that the past year has been challenging for the 1,200 employees that make the county government run. Serving a community larger in size than some states, county
employees had to come up with creative and innovative ways to do their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisdom said.
Nominations for Employee of the Year and Court Employee of the Year were screened by a Merit Award System Board appointed by the supervisors. The Safety Excellence Award Committee screened all nominations and forwarded the final candidates to the Merit Board. From there, the board reviewed and made a final recommendation of the award winner to the supervisors. And the winners were:
• Jessica Rodriguez, deputy director of human resources, was named 2020 Yuma County Employee of the Year. With more than 12 years working for the county, she has performed a variety of roles within the Human Resources Department that has led to her ascension to her current position. Over the last year during the pandemic, she has assisted in providing support related to COVID-19 to various department heads and elected officials and more than 568 employees as well as other assistance topics and concerns.
• Erin Ballos, conciliation court mediator, was named the 2020 Superior Court Employee of the Year. During her 21 years with the courts,
she has served as a probation officer, drug court coordinator and substance abuse counselor, which has given her unique insight from many vantage points. She agreed to take on the additional responsibilities with the Mental Health Court and Veterans Treatment Court. Her diligent work ethic helped unite all stakeholders to bring Veterans Treatment Court to fruition.
• Miguel Parra, maintenance supervisor with Facilities Management, was named the 2020 Safety Excellence Award winner. With 13 years of county service, he has always gone “above and beyond when it comes to safety.” Over the last year he was tasked with providing protective windows for all public lobbies and counters in county facilities. He and his team worked diligently on prototypes. They went to extraordinary lengths to meet a tough installation schedule. The results are now providing a safe environment for county employees and the public.
The County Employee of the Year and Court Employee of the Year each received a recognition plaque and $1,000 (after taxes). The 2020 Yuma County Safety Excellence Award winner received a recognition plaque and $250 (after taxes).