By Dominick Tao, Times Staff Writer
Friday, November 26, 2010
LARGO — Every three months, Largo selects its most exceptional staff members to receive "Employee of the Quarter" awards.
The four chosen this time around certainly earned their accolades.
One potentially saved a life, another reached out to a family in a time of loss, another pulled double duty to pay city bills and a fourth made sure more kids made it into an after-school program.
The four were applauded by commissioners in a Nov. 16 ceremony at City Hall.
Here are their stories:
• Trey Greer, a telecom operator at the Police Department, received a call from a man threatening to kill himself. Greer responded calmly under pressure, despite threats of violence. According to his citation, "The subject stated that he would shoot any officers that showed up at his door and then shoot himself."
Greer coaxed the man into giving a general location, enabling authorities to identify the motel where the man was staying. He also calmed the man down enough so he could be taken into police custody. The call lasted 104 minutes.
• Another member of the Police Department, Detective Chris Berard, went beyond the call of duty when a woman he had assisted with a law enforcement matter in the past suddenly lost a child to a drowning. Berard went to the hospital, where the grieving mother, who recognized Berard, asked him to come into the room by himself. Berard held the dead child with the mother for nearly an hour.
• With Largo paring down its administration staff, some employees have been pushed into double duty. One of them is Patricia Stopa, a senior accounting clerk. Stopa is the person responsible for paying 900 employees each week and making sure City Hall's bills are paid. She has taken on the dual roles "with pride and integrity," according to her citation.
• Children's program specialist Jessica Ball took one city kids' activity, the Friday Night Program at Highland Rec, and more than doubled its attendance. The city attributes the program's rise from 30 to more than 70 to Ball's "creative programming ideas" and close eye on what students enjoy. Ball also coordinates the Cool Kids summer camp and received praise for enriching programming there as well.
Dominick Tao can be reached at dtao@sptimes.com or (727) 580-2951.