The City of Levelland hosted their 53rd Annual City of Levelland Employee Appreciation Banquet November 16 at the Mallet Event Center.
Beginning with a dinner provided by Jeana’s Feedbag and music provided by Brandon and Emily Wheeler, City of Levelland staff were recognized for their various accomplishments.
Councilman Michael Stueart kicked-off the event with the invocation and Mayor Barbra Pinner welcomed all attendees and gave an introduction. Since James Fisher recently took over the role of Levelland City Manager, he addressed all employees about his goals and desires he hopes to achieve in the position by ‘Building Tomorrow, Today.’
“Levelland is an awesome community, and it is located in the perfect spot because it offers everything anybody could need,” said Fisher. “You have a great school system here, a great college and everything to be successful here and I think the sky is the limit for us.”
With about 30-plus years of experience Fisher stated that Levelland will be his last stop and knows there is work that needs to be done for the City of Levelland and shared his excitement for the opportunity.
“We are going to be building tomorrow, today one step at a time…first thing I expect from one of my employees is we always take the high road. There are no exit ramps,” explained Fisher. “This job can be tough, but as public servants we have an obligation to our community to never embarrass them or make them look bad.”
Fisher added that he wants his city staff do things that make citizens express how proud they are to live in the City of Levelland.
“In turn, we are going to be professional and that does not mean we are going to be perfect, but we are going to make sure when we service our citizens, we are doing are best,” said Fisher. “The other thing is we are going to be kind. It’s a sad thing I have to say this, but our nation has lost the ability to be kind and we can’t disagree without being downright ugly and mean. We never know the difference we can make in someone’s life with the people we interact with and sometimes it is just smiling and saying hello and other times it takes a little extra effort.”
As staff continues to serve the community, Fisher highlighted the importance of accountability, “we are going to work through that together and I would rather have someone try to help an employee than saying something is not in their wheelhouse. Try your best and stumble because we are going to learn and grow even stronger.”
Fisher highlighted the importance of a great work environment to allow all employees to flourish and become solution oriented.
“We have a great honor of serving the public and we need to remember that,” said Fisher. “We have the great job in the world in serving the community and making a difference in people’s lives.”
Fisher also recognized the hard work of Assistant City Manager Joe Cavazos as he served as Interim City Manager before Fisher took his managerial role. Fisher thanked Cavazos for his hard work with multiple department head positions vacant and taking on the work load.
Cavazos presented awards and recognitions with service recognitions going to Ashia Martinez for her five-years of service in Law Enforcement Communications, Gerardo “Jerry” Nino for his 10-years of service in the Water Department, Joe Madewell for his 15-years of service in the Fire Department and Ricky Mireles for his 15-years of service in the Sanitation Department.
Retirees honored were Norma Garza who worked in the Municipal Court, Benny Corwin who worked in the Shop Department and Margaret Golightly who worked in the Law Enforcement Communications.
New employees recognized in various departments included Micahyella Adeola, Adrian Arce, James Fisher, Derrick Frintz, Ashley Fuentes, Jaun Galvan, Braxton Gilbreath, Ernest Hernandez, Madison Keesler, Alexis Kuhlemeier, Theodore Loa, Aryan Ortega and Olga Ruiz.
Certification achievements were also recognized with Eli Colunga earning a Code Enforcement 2 Certification, Jerry Nino and Josh Goforth each earning their “C” Water Certification, Jesse Gonzales earning his “B” Wastewater Certification, Felix Solano earning his “D” Wastewater Certification, Patrick Hinojosa and Steven Minor each earning their “B” Municipal Solid Waste Certification, Joe Madewell, Landon Durham, Jeff Pharis and Lance Edwards each earning their Incident Safety Officer Certification, Lucinda Gonzales, Jerry Nino and Oscar Segura each earning their High Angle Rope Rescue Certification, Tammatha Levell earning her High Angle Rope Rescue and Instructor 1 Certification, Ryan Crutcher and Joseph Galindo each earning their Emergency Medical Responder Certification, Blake Parker and Katelyn Fortner each earning their Basic Peace Officer Certification, David “Dakota” Moody earning his Advanced Peace Officer Certification, Joshua Rincones earning his School Based Law Enforcement Officer Certification, Raul Lopez, Brian Haralson, and David “Dakota” Moody each earning their Remote Pilot License Certification, Terez Ramos earning her Master Telecommunication Certification and Basic Instructor Certificaiton, Kirk Bird, Madison Keesler, Micahyella Adeola and Alexis Fuentes each earning their Telecommunicator Operators License Certification, Ashley Fuentes and Adrian Arce each earning their Basic Animal Control Officer Certification and Chief Albert Garcia, Captain Tammie McDonald and former Sergeant Shawn Wilson each earning the Texas Award of Valor in June 2022.
Promotions and appointments included Shawn Wilson as Municipal Court Judge, Brian Haralson and Margarito Ramirez as Police Sergeants, Rick Wooten as Detective and Terez Ramos as Telecommunication Center Supervisor.
Following the announcing of achievements, Fisher thanked all businesses that helped sponsor the event including Ace Hardware, Ameresco, Best Western, Blue Layor, Brave Oil Field, Brown Realty, CleanCo, Esthetics by Tylyn, GLJ Electric, HCSECU, HIS Turbines, L&L Construction, Levelland Economic Corporation, McDonalds, Michael Stueart-Paxton Real Estate, Mike Flint Construction, NAPA Auto Parts, Parkhill, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Plains Motor Supply, Premiere Waterworks, Resie’s Kitchen, Republic Services, Robertson-Agnew Heating & AC, South Plains Association of Governments, Slim Chickens, T&S Craft & Antique Mall, Texas Communities Group, Underwood Law, Excel Energy and Your Shop.