About 60 workers and elected officials for the city of Perry gathered Wednesday at the Perry Fire Department for the fifth annual Safety and Employee Appreciation Day.
The program began at 10:30 a.m., with opening remarks from Perry Mayor Jay Pattee. The four-term mayor of Perry will step down from office at the end of the year, so his words resembled a farewell address.
Pattee thanked the gathered workers for their devotion and professionalism, and he illustrated the importance of teamwork with a story of his recent hiking trip to the Grand Canyon with his wife, Jan Pattee, and five other friends. A medical emergency challenged the hikers’ resources.
“The point of the story is it’s amazing how many people it takes to keep somebody safe,” Pattee said. “This is called Safety Day, and I compare it to the city because the hikers we worked as a team to do what we did, and each person did what they did as an individual. It’s about individuals doing everything they can, and it’s about working as a team. That’s what I see here in Perry. I see it in all the departments of the city, and it doesn’t really matter which department it is.”
Pattee commended each city department in turn, starting with the Public Safety Department, which handled a triple homicide case last October and a case of a juvenile starvation death in May.
“In the last year, our Public Safety has had to deal with a lot,” the mayor said, “including a little bit of crazy, and sometimes I think there’s a thin line between crazy and downright evil. Some of that went on in Perry, and our people had to deal with it, and that’s not a fun thing at all.”
City Finance Director Susie Moorhead reviewed the 14 insurance claims filed this year, noting that no workdays were lost to injury and only one case required work restrictions.
“Probably the biggest thing we had this year, and we need to discuss this at a safety committee meeting, is dog bites,” Moorhead said. “Out of the 14 cases, four of them were dog bites.”
“We are headed in the right direction and expect to see the trend continue,” she said. “It helps everyone when our loss history is low.”
Jennifer Becker of Bernie Lowe and Associates, the city’s insurance underwriter, gave a presentation on workplace wellness and safety, including advice for desktop stretches and buti yoga.
Lunch was catered by the Perry Hy-Vee. Many local businesses sponsored raffle items, which lucky workers won.
Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson delivered a lunch presentation on the local option sales tax (LOST), which is coming up for renewal in November.
Twenty-five-year Perry Volunteer Fire Department member Brian Eiteman demonstrated the department’s recently acquired drone and explained its many lifesaving applications, and 20-year Dallas County EMS Director Mike Thomason delivered his annual presentation.
Twenty-seven city workers and elected officials received certificates of appreciation for their service to the Perry public. Certificates were presented to:
- Hank Schmidt, 5 Years, Water Superintendent
- Sven Peterson, 5 Years, City Administrator
- Barb Wolling, 5 Years, City Council
- Shaun Schulte, 5 Years, Garbage Department
- Laura Deaton, 5 Years, Police Officer
- Andrew Smith, 5 Years, Fire Department
- James Leber, 5 Years, Fire Department
- Kimberly Williams, 5 Years, Fire Department
- Kayla Rothmeyer, 5 Years Library (PT)
- Sierra Coleman, 5 Years, Recreation Department (PT)
- Clint Nelsen, 10 Years, Fire Department
- Richard Steadman, 10 Years, Fire Department
- Jimmy Kezar, 10 Years, Recreation Department (now at Water Pollution Control Facility)
- Matt “Fizz” Van Pelt, 10 Years, Street Department
- Lori Riley, 10 Years, Police Dispatcher
- Ronny Defenbaugh, 10 Years, Fire Department
- Rodney Cromwell, 10 Years, Fire Department
- Joel Bragg, 10 Years, Fire Department
- John Lenz, 10 Years, Recreation Department
- Rogelio Castrejon, 10 Seasons, Cemetery Department
- Josh Wuebker, 15 Years, Deputy Public Works Director
- Jay Pattee, 15 Years, Mayor
- Eric Vaughn, 20 Years, Police Chief
- Brian Eiteman, 25 Years, Fire Department
- Alan Kelleher, 30 Years, Street Department
- Kevin Kanealy, 30 Years, Parks Department
- Patty Anderson, 30 Years, Police Dispatcher
“We have a great town, in case you didn’t notice,” Mayor Pattee said, “but part of what makes it work, though, unfortunately is money. That’s part of the individual effort and the group effort. If we all stay conscious about what goes on in our town, and if each one of us tries not to be greedy — we have enough of that in the world now — we can make a go.”
Pattee encouraged the public servants to inform themselves thoroughly about the importance played in city finances since the 1990s by the local option sales tax and in the impending November election.
