Cordele City honors long-serving employees with milestone awards

Cordele City recognized a slate of municipal employees Tuesday, honoring milestone service anniversaries that ranged from five to 40 years and praising longtime public-safety and public-works staff for their contributions.

The recognition program, presented by a meeting moderator, named individual recipients and summarized their careers. "You all do a hard job and a lot of people look past it," the Moderator said, thanking staff on behalf of the commission and residents. The city highlighted employees across departments, including police, fire, public works and finance.

The awards included a five-year recognition for Wesley Mutter of the public works department; a 10-year award for Amy Middleton of the police department (listed in the remarks with her former surname, Stokes); 15-year recognitions for Lyn Mercer in court compliance and Brett Walls in the fire department; and a 20-year award for Genevieve Janice Montrey, who was introduced as the city clerk after earlier service in customer relations and as the city manager’s executive assistant. "Janice is being recognized today for her 20 years of service to the city," the Moderator said.

Several employees were honored for quarter-century service: Burton "Kobe" Worly (street department), Denise Worley (finance then natural gas/public works) and Jack Wood Jr. (meter control). Lewis New Jr., recognized for 30 years, was noted for roles including sergeant, lieutenant, detective and his current position as a code enforcement officer. Captain Charles W. Farah Jr. (known as Scott) was recognized for 35 years; the Moderator noted Farah was absent because his wife is undergoing medical procedures and asked for the community’s prayers. Two firefighters, Captain Reginald Patrick and Captain Bobby Mixon, were presented with 40-year service recognitions.

The Moderator also spoke about recruitment and equipment, saying the commission wants to grow the police and public-works departments and move the city toward new technology. The meeting referenced an upcoming Tyler system implementation and an AMI rollout; the Moderator suggested drones as a possible tool for emergency response, adding that a drone was "in the budget for" according to a remark in the room.

The ceremony included a brief logistics note that one physical award had the wrong name on it and would be reordered and sent to the recipient. The Moderator closed by relaying commissioners’ well-wishes (including Commissioner Finn and Commissioner Shepard) and thanking a local photographer for covering the event. Attendees were reminded of a follow-up event the next day at about 11:30 a.m.

The recognition event was celebratory and ceremonial; no formal votes or policy decisions were recorded during the remarks.