Bean tabbed city employee of the year

By Staff, 12/18/20 1:35 PM

PRESCOTT – Bruce Bean was named City Employee of the Year at Prescott’s annual Christmas party Friday afternoon.

The celebration was smaller than normal because of COVID-19, or “The Year of Covid” as Prescott Mayor Terry Oliver calls it, but those attending still had plenty of fun. They enjoyed a fish dinner as members of the electric department cooked 50 pounds of catfish and 30 pounds of fries to go along with hush puppies, cole slaw, potato salad and baked beans.

Oliver called eight employees to the forefront, saying they’d been picked out of more than 40 city employees as the best of the year. However, as he said, only one could be the winner. He drew out naming the employee of the year as long as he could, asking if anyone needed to visit the facilities or if anyone wanted to do a little dance before the announcement was made. When no one moved, he told those gathered Bean was tabbed as the Employee of the Year.

Balloting was done differently this year as every employee in all departments were allowed to cast their ballots. The votes were tallied by Oliver and Prescott Police Chief Ann Jordan, who was one of the finalists. Oliver said 34 different employees received voted and only three people voted for others in their department.

At the start of the party, Oliver said Don Claus had been quarantined in Chicago because of the virus. He said DC had been initially quarantined in March and won’t be allowed out until the virus is over. Don Claus is Santa’s brother.

The Prescott Police Department held their Christmas party Thursday night with two officers receiving awards. Justin Vershay was named most improved officer while Alex Gamble was tabbed as officer of the year.