The city of Santa Maria recently recognized its water resources division customer service team—Rod Rodriguez, Cynthia Torres, Karl Kovarik, and Bill Cyr, of the Utilities Department—as the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) Award winners for the first quarter of 2009.
Each employee received a GEM certificate from City Manager Tim Ness during a presentation at the Santa Maria City Council meeting on May 19.
“In response to a significantly increased workload created by the recession, the dedicated Water Resources Division customer service team provided a much higher than normal number of residents with consistent courteous service, solutions, and reassurances,” according to a press release from the city.
The water resources division team fielded customer queries such as turning water service back on and/or off, re-reading meters to verify consumption, and discussing water conservation techniques.
Criteria for the GEM Award include: Exhibiting effective leadership on specific assignments; demonstrating positive service to a customer or co-worker; going “above and beyond” the call of duty; showing special initiative, creativity, teamwork, cost containment efforts, and entrepreneurial spirit in providing a high level of customer service; and consistently embracing the city’s service standards.
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This article appears in May 28 – Jun 4, 2009.