Ridgecrest PD hands out slew of awards
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
The Ridgecrest City Council meeting Wednesday was the scene of a slew of awards by the Ridgecrest Police Department.
Honorees for 2020 included Officer of the Year Detective Frank Mixon; Reserve Officer of the Year Reserve Officer Michael Rogers; Supervisor of the Year Antionette Agostinacci; Employee of the Year ACO Shawna Villa-Rodriguez; Explorer of the Year Explorer Jesse Torres; and Volunteer of the Year (Chief’s Award) Dean Laird.
Torres was not present at the meeting and will receive his award at a later date.
Sergeant Eric Clinton, Officer Daniel Pietrangelo, Officer Timothy Plunkett also received Life-saving Awards for working with the Kern County Fire Department and Liberty Ambulance and ultimately saving someone from a fentanyl overdose on Feb. 5.
Ridgecrest Daily Independent
Full-time city employees will receive a one-time $1,000 COVID-19 hazard bonus and part-timers $500 if the Ridgecrest City Council approves an agenda item at its April 7 meeting.
If approved the bonus would appear in the employees’ final payroll check in April.
The total cost to the city would be $111,418 and would come from the following funds: general fund ($79,822); gas tax fund ($9,476); gas tax/RMA fund ($1,809); TDA transit fund ($8,271); wastewater fund ($10,963) and the fleet maintenance/ISF fund ($1,077).
The funds may be reimbursable under American Rescue Plan funding, according to the staff report with the agenda.
The rationale for the one-time bonus, according to the report, is that city employees have not received a cost of living raise since 2008 and “have shown resiliency and perseverance during the Covid-19 pandemic.”