Awarded Employee of the Month in recognition and appreciation for going above and beyond.

The yard at the new Fire Station 3 is very large and fire personnel were spending three to four hours mowing with the equipment they had. Before more appropriate mowing equipment was obtained, Fire Captain Luke Myers took it upon himself to mow the large yard at Station 3 on his own time with his own equipment. Luke takes pride in all of his work, whether working for the Gainesville Fire Department or himself. The yard at Station 3 looks fantastic because of his care for it.

Luke saved countless hours of mowing that could be used for other station maintenance and training activities.

Alex Hernandez joined the City of Coral Springs as Chief Building Official in 2015. Prior to joining the City, Alex served 19 years with the City of Fort Lauderdale as an Inspector, Plans Examiner and Assistant Building Official. He has been a state licensed contractor for 33 years.

The Building Department provides customer friendly plan review, issues building permits, performs field inspections, and issues certificates of occupancy to ensure conformance of the construction in the City with governing building codes. Through these services, the City maintains high standards of building integrity and preserves neighborhood aesthetics and property values.

Awarded Employee of the Month in recognition and appreciation for diligence in the performance of duties, willingness to assist and train fellow officers and continuous work to improve the department.

Recently, Police Officer Wayne Clark was assigned light duty as a result of an on-duty injury sustained while pursuing a suspect on foot. Officer Clark completed all assigned light-duty tasks in an efficient manner and also utilized his light duty time to seek out grants and reward programs for the department. Officer Clark applied for rewards from the Select Traffic Enforcement Program (S.T.E.P.) that will reimburse the department for enforcement of Driving While Intoxicated offenses and seat belt violations. Since returning to active duty, Officer Clark has made on-view felony arrests and multiple on-view narcotic arrests. Officer Clark’s return is noticed by shift coworkers, who have expressed their gratitude for the amount of proactive work Officer Clark produces and his willingness to assist and train his fellow officers. Officer Clark maintains exceptional and quality police work that exemplifies the City’s values.

Awarded Employee of the month in recognition and appreciation for exemplary performance and representation as a City of Gainesville employee.

During the last few months of this year, the Gainesville Civic Center has been used as a COVID-19 vaccination site for Cooke County. Ms. Jennifer Cannon, as a receptionist for the GEDC and Chamber of Commerce, sits at the front desk of the Civic Center and has been the first face that citizens of Gainesville and Cooke County see when they enter the building for their vaccination. Ms. Cannon greets everyone with a smile and asks how she can help and directs them to the county health employees. Ms. Cannon answers every phone call that rings to the front desk and often shares information with citizens on how to get registered for the vaccine and who to contact with more questions. There have been a few times where citizens have come into the Civic Center on non-vaccine days and asked for instruction and Ms. Cannon always answers their questions accurately and thoroughly. Some of these citizens have come in with frustrated attitudes and despite their irate behavior, Ms. Cannon has always maintained her composure and professionalism. Ms. Cannon has made it her prerogative to be as informed as possible so she can help citizens even though she was not directed to by supervisors.

In addition, with many events held at the Civic Center and our offices used as an information source for the community, Ms. Cannon treats each visitor as if they were her own personal guest. Every day she arrives to work early with a smile on her face and she is the first to step up when a task needs to be completed. Her dedication, reliability, and positive attitude are second to none. Ms. Cannon goes above and beyond her duties as an employee and is a shining example of the City of Gainesville Employee Mission Statement and City Core Values.