Honoring the Civilians
On Feb. 5, the LAFD announced the honorees of the 2019 Civilian Employee Recognition Awards. The announcement was held virtually due to pandemic protocols.
The awards were given in recognition of job performance during 2019.
The LAFD has more than 300 non-sworn members that provide professional support that directly corresponds with pursuit of the Department’s mission of saving life and property.
The LAFD’s Civilian Employee Recognition Committee (CERC) was established in 1991 to recognize outstanding civilian employee performance. The CERC is comprised of Department civilian and uniformed personnel. At the start of the program, awards were presented quarterly. Then in 1997, the awards program was presented in a yearly format. The Employees of the Year are chosen from the following three categories, based on the Department’s civilian civil service classification’s memorandum of understanding:
• Clerical
• Shop Maintenance
• Professional/Specialized Skills
During the end of the calendar year, nominations are solicited from the entire Department. Over the course of several days and with the strictest confidence, the CERC reviews each nomination submitted for civilian employee recognition criteria. The CERC then conducts interviews with the nominators. Finally, the CERC Chair performs background checks on the finalists. Once this process is completed, the CERC recommends the candidates to the Fire Chief in the following categories:
• Fire Chief’s Award of Excellence
• Employees of the Year
• Certificates of Special Recognition
• Fire Chief’s Group Award of Excellence
Upon selection, the Fire Chief and the Administrative Operations Commander notify the Employees of the Year and other honorees. The CERC then plans and coordinates the Civilian Employees Recognition Awards Luncheon to celebrate with the honorees and their families, friends, co-workers, and sponsors. In 2013, the Certificates for Perfect Attendance was introduced to the Awards Program, honoring those employees for their perfect attendance for the past year.
LAFD Civilian Honorees 2019
Special Recognition
Judy Hom
Exec Adm. Assistant II
Retired after 40 years of City service
Rebecca Alvarado
Secretary, ASB Section
Julio Banuelos
Sr. Heavy Duty Mechanic
Lisa Chen
Systems Analyst
Employees of the Year
Clerical
Paul Perales
Administrative Clerk
Drill Tower 81
Shops Maintenance
Florentino Rojas
Professional/Special Skills
Philip Orozco
Fire Chief’s Group Excellence Award
AB 9 Update Travel Guidelines Team
In 2019, several Bureaus collaborated to update Administrative Bulletin No. 9 – Travel Guidelines, also known as AB9. Department travel requests must meet strict City and Department policies and procedures. This group worked with LAFD Administration, UFLAC and Controllers’ Office for over six months to update and publish AB9. This update also included an update to the portal for Travel adding user-friendly documents and they also conducted a Training to inform LAFD staff of the changes. The group is composed of members from Administrative Services Bureau, Administrative Operations and Emergency Operations.
Administrative Operations
Judy Hom
Emergency Operations
Norina Tom
Administrative Services Bureau
Carmela Espiritu
Marcelo Castillo
Laura Kakita
Marife Espenilla
Ingrid Orellana
Congratulations to the honorees!
Special thanks go to Jennifer Corona, Chair, LAFD Civilian Employee Recognition Committee, Club Member.
