Water utility maintenance technician Ray Bond has been named the Pueblo West Metropolitan District 2022 Employee of the Year award. Bond received the award during the Pueblo West Metro District Employee Appreciation Party on Saturday, Dec. 17.
Bond was among a group of four employees that were named Employee of the Quarter in 2022 and were eligible for the Employee of the Year. Bond was nominated along with Brandi Blankenship, Metro District clerk; Natalie Calderon, water billing customer service representative; and Kris Bjorson, information technology support specialist.
"Congratulations to Ray Bond on being named Metro District Employee of the Year," said Jessica Pankey, Metro District Human Resources Director. "A team of department heads and managers throughout the district selected Ray from a group of outstanding employees, all of which were deserving of the award in their own right."
From Bond's nomination:
"Ray has been a staple of the Water Department for many years now. He is a reliable employee that requires no motivation and minimal oversight. It is good to know that any repair or project he undertakes will be done the right way the first time, every time. He has a broad scope of knowledge about the various pieces of equipment the water department has. If there is something that he doesnโt know about, then he will always find a way to figure out the answer. He has displayed hard work and effort over the many years of his employment at the Metro District and he is always willing to help fill gaps in the maintenance group."
From Blankenship's nomination:
"Brandi has had many roles in the District since she has been hired and through it all, attacked them with a very positive and energetic attitude. She applied for a few grants for the Parks and Recreation Department, and on Jan. 25 of 2022, we received a congratulation letter from the Bill Belichick Foundation for a $10,000 grant. Her dependability, commitment, motivation, drive, and most of all, friendly attitude shows in the job she is doing. She demonstrates our core values of commitment, collaboration and continuous learning."
From Calderon's nomination:
"Natalieโs customer service skills are top notch! She is on the front line on explaining utility costs to customers and contractors that involve costs up to $20,000. She deals with contractors for new taps and keeps a very tight schedule that benefits the effectiveness our field team to install the new hook ups. Further, as we all know, water has been the main subject and issue for the District and Natalie will be on the front line scheduling contractors while performing her other duties. Her work will be an integral part of our success for this issue. She answers calls for service, customer inquiries and billing concerns with great skill, knowledge and professional courtesy. She never complains when asked to do something extra."
From Bjorson's nomination:
"We are nominating Kris for his excellent work ethic and performance. Kris is very helpful and knowledgeable and will find a way to help you out with an issue regarding a program or PC issue and will work until it's resolved, whether on the phone or in person. He got involved with the OpenGov Online Permitting portal and had come out to spend time in our building working with our Engineering team as will as Committee of Architecture, watching and listening to what we do. He helped get the online OpenGov portal installed onto a kiosk in our lobby for drop-in customers and assisted in connecting the PC to allow scanned documents to be uploaded to the system for people applying for permits. His dependability allowed us to move forward with our launch on-schedule despite one of our key Public Works staff members departing."
