Our Organizational Values - STRIVE

Congratulations to Officer Mitchell on Earning the STRIVE Award for SERVICE.

The award for Service is earned by a staff member that makes decisions and takes action to reflect Newberg's commitment to serving our community.

“On December 21^st, 2023 Mr. Rodney Robbins sent an email to me detailing how impressed he was with Officer Mitchell when he spoke with a client of Mr. Robbins.  Mr. Robbins is a licensed therapist who brought his client to the police department to report criminal activity that was disclosed to him during a therapy session. 

Mr. Robbins stated that his client, the victim, had experienced severe trauma because of the crimes committed against her.  Robbins stated to me that he was extremely impressed with how Officer Mitchell handled the situation, specifically recalling his tact, delicacy, and his professionalism.  He went on to say that Officer Mitchell further distinguished himself by showing a great level of empathy, compassion, and assurance that the victim’s case would be handled appropriately.

Officer Mitchell consistently provides a level of service that reflects well on the Newberg-Dundee Police Department and the City of Newberg.  Mr. Robbins was so impressed with Officer Mitchell, he felt it was important to send an email documenting his observations.  While I am not surprised by Officer Mitchell’s level of service, I am continually impressed by him.  I would like to nominate Officer Robert Mitchell to receive a STRIVE award for Service."

We appreciate your Service Officer Mitchell!

Congratulations to DAWN NELSON on Earning the STRIVE Award for teamwork, responsibility, and value.

The Teamwork Award is presented to a staff member who fosters a culture of mutual respect and support.

"Dawn has been extremely helpful during Executime process. Drops everything to be available whenever I have needed her. Very much appreciated!!"

The Responsibility Award is presented to a staff member who upholds and honors the community's trust through stewardship of resources. The Value Award is presented to a staff member who provides the best value services at all times.

“When Dawn joined the team, she picked up management of ExecuTime and owned that project! She did a great job working with other departments to facilitate rollout of the software, and now that we're seeing the project come to fruition it's important to recognize all the hard work that has been pumped into it. She's done a great job troubleshooting and guiding everyone through this new way of doing things.”

We appreciate your Teamwork, Value, and Responsibility Dawn!

Congratulations to IAN RODRIGUEZ on Earning the STRIVE Award for Teamwork.

The Teamwork award is presented to a staff member who fosters a culture of mutual respect and support.

"At the library we've been experiencing many problems with people and unsafe behaviors including harassment and drug use. I've been writing grants to raise the funds for cameras in problematic areas of the library but was still short the needed funds at the beginning of the month. Ian approached me after hearing I didn't yet have grant funding and said IT would pick up the remaining nearly $9,000 so we could get the cameras and have better security in place. A day later the rest of my grant funding came through so the funds from IT were no longer needed. However, Ian's actions exemplified teamwork and service when he stepped in to make sure the library could get the much-needed cameras to make the library a safer place for staff and patrons."

Congratulations to Samantha Qualls on Earning the STRIVE Award for Service.

The award for Service is earned by a staff member that makes decisions and takes action to reflect Newberg's commitment to serving our community.

"I could nominate Samantha for any of the STRIVE values as she is consistently working to serve our community well every single day. Samantha is always thinking ahead about how to best support our patrons and each other. She remembers our patrons' names, thinks ahead about the needs of our volunteers and is always thinking of creative ways to use the resources that we have on hand. Kids and families come to the library to say hello to Samantha and to tell her all about the newest things they are doing and how much they loved her recommendations. She takes care of hundreds of details each day that keep the library running smoothly and adds creative touches that everyone, staff and patrons alike, enjoy. She came up with a snowflake craft that our staff enjoyed creating at a staff meeting and using to decorate the library. She is also the person responsible for coming up with new hiding places for our reading program mascots in the summer and winter. Everyone, including staff, loved finding Mellow the Marshfellow, our Cozy Reading mascot, hiding all around the library. In just six weeks, we had 624 people find the mascot around the library this winter. She is also the person coming up with the interactive programs in the children's area each month, and we all marvel at the new ideas. Recently, we expanded our Turnaround book delivery program to include Little Free Libraries around town. Samantha drove around to dozens of Little Free Libraries offering regular book deliveries to restock their libraries. We had many homeowners call us, overjoyed at the opportunity. Samantha arranged volunteers to deliver the books regularly, and has spearheaded a very successful extension to this program with no additional cost involved. I could continue on, but will simply say that Samantha could be nominated for any of the STRIVE values and is a wonderful part of our library team."

We appreciate your efforts and Service Samantha!

Congratulations to Fé Bates on Earning the STRIVE Award for Teamwork.

The award for Teamwork is earned by a staff member that fosters a culture of mutual respect and support.

"Fé volunteered to help HR for 8 additional hours per week above her normal 32-hour schedule. Because she is a seasoned employee with experience, it was possible to assign her a task, which she then carried out impeccably without needing oversight or direction. The task was particularly detail-oriented, adjusting all the job-descriptions and wages in multiple places following the class and comp study. Fé's diligent and accurate work is helping HR catch up on some much needed tasks while I have been caught up in software implementation. Great teamwork!"

We appreciate your efforts and Teamwork Fé!

Congratulations to Robin Nance on Earning the STRIVE Award for Service.

The award for Service is earned by a staff member that makes decisions and takes action to reflect Newberg's commitment to serving our community.

"I feel that Robin is a good example of the value Service. Robin Sits in her office helping citizens on the phone and in person. Some of these people are in a stressful situation making them a bit difficult to deal with, but I have never seen her lose her cool and if she has to get stern, she is very professional about it. She is always friendly when greeting people at the window, even when she has to finish helping a citizen on the phone. I feel that Robin exemplifies Service."

We appreciate your efforts and Service Robin!

Congratulations to Bobbye Hernandez on Earning the STRIVE Award for Value.

The award for Value is earned by a staff member that raises the bar and exceeds expectations to elevate the service we provide for our community.

"Bobbye is new to the library team but has already demonstrated that she is extremely valuable to our team. For just one example of her great work, she recently worked with a couple in our community who did not speak English as a first language, helping them to navigate a job application, schedule interviews with their potential new boss and did so with great service. The couple ended up getting their jobs and came back to thank her. Without her help, they simply wouldn't have been able to do it. That seems like value to me!"

We appreciate your efforts and Value Bobbye!
Honorable Mentions: 

• Joseph Falbey  
• Will Worthey
• Jessica Otto
• Brett Musick

Congratulations to our STRIVE Responsibility winners April Catan and Sgt. Carl Busse! 

The Responisbility Award is presented to staff that upholds and honors the community’s trust through stewardship of resources.

"April is a highly dedicated employee who always ensures that her duties and assignments are completed on or before their due dates. She is always looking forward for future potential regulatory issues and regularly forwards articles or information regarding emerging issues in wastewater treatment to ensure management is aware well in advance of potential regulatory changes. She makes the job of managing the treatment plant much less stressful. She also has gone above and beyond by volunteering to chair the City Safety Committee as well as participate on the Oregon ACWA Pretreatment Committee and the Recycled Water/Biosolids Committee."

"When I think of Responsibility, Sgt. Carl Busse is one of the first people who comes to mind. He is probably in the top 1% in this category. Sgt. Busse is deeply devoted to seeing the operational mission of our Police Dept. is accomplished. He has taken personal responsibility for the success of our department in many areas. Over the last several months, during times when our staffing was down by several officers, Sgt. Busse has creatively adjusted the schedule to ensure patrol has adequate shift coverage. Sgt. Busse has helped manage liability through updated training techniques and by implementing new information and standards from changes in legislation or through case law rulings. Sgt. Busse is also a member of a group in our department that reviews all uses of force by officers in order to ensure all force use is proper and legal. He sets himself apart with his work ethic and consistently high devotion to the success of our police department and city. Sgt. Busse strives every day to make us all better through his servant leadership. The example he sets for our department and profession is exemplary."

Grear work to both of those selected. We'd also like to give an honorable mention to the other amazing employees who were nominated for the award: 

• Karen Tarmichael
• Corporal Del Linck
• Officer Levi Fergus
• Ian Rodriguez
• Jeanne Schuback

Keep STRIVEing!