FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(January 16, 2025) The City of Lamar is pleased to announce the employees and volunteers who received performance and service awards in 2024. In addition to honoring employees who have reached milestones in their employment, the City of Lamar recognized excellence in performance at the city’s Christmas Party in December.   Performance award categories align with the City’s core values for employees. Awardees include:

• Service to Excellence: Elise Crockett, Lamar Fire & Ambulance. The Service to Excellence Award recognizes the recipient’s actions promoting exemplary job performance and the department’s overall goals.  Elise goes above and beyond to complete additional training to master new job skills. She is currently completing her clinicals and internship to become a paramedic.  The award recognizes accountability as a core value.
• Cheers to Peers:  Quentin Sitts, Equipment Maintenance. The Cheers to Peers Award is given in recognition of excellence in the recipient’s working relationships with co-workers. Quentin lives by the Golden Rule, showing empathy and appreciation and treating others with respect and dignity. The award recognizes interpersonal skills as a core value.
• 5-Star Citizen Hero: Sheri Eirhart, Library.  The 5-Star Citizen Hero award recognizes the recipient’s commitment to providing consistent, quality service to fellow employees and community members. Sheri’s positivity is an example to all. The award recognizes customer service/communications as a core value.
• MVP Master’s:  Mike Machone, GIS. The MVP Master’s Award is in recognition of the employee’s master's level expertise in his work and contributions to the City, Mike has made a unique and significant contribution to the organization through exemplary performance. The award recognizes job knowledge as a core value.
• Employee of the Year:  Amanda Duffy, 9-11 Dispatch. The Employee of the Year award is given to a staff member who exemplifies all of our core values including interpersonal skills, customer service, communications, accountability, and job knowledge. Distinguished for her work ethic, attitude, and performance, Amanda Duffy deserves the award. This recognition seeks to acknowledge Amanda’s success, professionalism, contributions to our values and exceptional work to the City of Lamar and its residents. 
• Heart of Gold: Paul Jimenez & Betsy Tine (volunteers). The City of Lamar is grateful to volunteers who do what our limited staff cannot. It created the HEART of GOLD Volunteer Award to acknowledge an individual, group, or board that goes above and beyond to make Lamar a better place. Paul and Betsy make everything they touch beautiful.  Fortunately, they’ve adopted the flower garden and pots at the City Complex.

While Heart of Gold nominations were received from community members, the other awardees were nominated by their City peers. Awardees have all illustrated excellence in their work ethic, expertise, and service to both the public and their peers.

Employees become part of the City by their longevity in employment.  The City recognized the following staff for their years of service:

• 40 Years: Robbie Batdorf and Karen Woodward
• 30 Years: Lloyd Martinson, Toni McPherson
• 25 Years: Jeremy Burkhart
• 15 Years: Amanda Duffy, Corey Reamy, Jamison Sherrill
• 10 Years: Jamie Anderson, Erica Jones
• 5 Years: Marco Macias, Mercedes Adame, Madison Park, Margaret Saldaña, and Jessie Stapleton

Whether by dedicated and productive years of service or by distinguishing themselves in a core value, the City of Lamar congratulates all employees recognized in 2024.

Contact: Courtney W. Recio
Communications & Marketing Assistant
Courtney.Recio@ci.lamar.co.us
719-336-1448