City Honors Employees with Afternoon With the Stars

Nearly a dozen city employees and volunteers received special recognition at the city of Redlands' sixth annual employee recognition program: “An Afternoon with the Stars," held at the Civic Center. The city’s Human Resources Department and a committee made up of employees from various city departments planned the event, which for the past four years has been held at City Hall during most employees’ lunch hour. Local food vendors offered deep discounts, setting up a lunch time spread including sausages, burritos, pizza, chicken, cupcakes and funnel cakes. Oct. 24, the date of the awards event, was also the last day of work for one of the award recipients, Water Production Maintenance Supervisor Jerry Zysek, who retired and also celebrated his birthday that day. Other businesses donated dozens of prizes for a raffle giveaway. During the awards ceremony, managers, full-time and part-time employees and volunteers were recognized for providing service above and beyond their job descriptions. Award recipients were nominated by their peers and chosen by a committee whose members work for other agencies. The employees of the year included: Administrative: Charlene Williams (Police) Technical and Professional: Alan Collett (MUED) Safety: Dustin Whitaker (Fire) Field: Jerry Zysek (MUED) Part-time: Elizabeth Marin (Human Resources) Managers of the year included: Administrative: Shayna Walker (Police) Safety: David Graves (Fire) Technical and Professional: Michael Pool (MUED) Volunteers of the year: Administrative: Carly Carlstrom (City Manager’s Office) Technical and Professional: David Raley (Police) Safety: Paul Smith (Police) Twenty-five employees received five-year service pins; 19 received 10-year pins; 16 received 15-year pins. Seven employees were recognized for 20 years of service with the city and another five for 25 years of service with the city. Companies that provided food or donated prizes included Hund & Bier Haus, King Rotisserie Chicken, Sylvia Weathers, State Street Winery, Stephen Wormser Photography, among others.