ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
MEETING DATE: October 21, 2026 AGENDA CATEGORY: Presentations TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Shayla Woods-Collins, Human Resources Manager
DATE: October 3, 2026
SUBJECT: Excellence in Action CARES Awards 2026.
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RECOMMENDATION:
Presentation
BACKGROUND:
The Employee Incentive Team (EIT) is pleased to announce the 26th Annual Excellence in Action (EIA) CARES Awards.
The Excellence in Action (EIA) CARES awards recognize City employees and teams who embody one or more of the City of Bakersfield guiding principles while making a positive contribution to overall workplace success, by significantly contributing to major projects or activities started by the City or having an impact within the organization daily. The guiding principles, known as CARES, stand for Collaboration, Accountability, Resourceful, Excellence, and Stewardship. These guiding principles were developed to provide employees with a standard of values for the organization in order to represent what is important to the City. Each year, the Employee Incentive Team (EIT) seeks nominations from peers to recognize a select number of individuals and teams. In addition, the CARES Extra Mile Award is presented by the City Manager’s Office to an individual or team that has gone above and beyond! Again, this year we will acknowledge outstanding teamwork and team contributions with the CARES Shining Team Achievement Recognition (S.T.A.R) Award. This award recognizes teams that consistently work collaboratively to accomplish goals, going above-and-beyond, while recognizing and reinforcing the need for all employees to work in support of one another for the overall success of our City.
All City employees were eligible to be nominated for an EIA CARES Award. All nominations were submitted by each Department Head to the EIT and reviewed for consideration by EIT, excluding any members that were nominated. Each individual EIA CARES winner will receive a gift card and their name will be engraved on a perpetual plaque displayed in the Human Resources Department lobby. All CARES S.T.A.R recipients will receive certificate and a recognition award.
The Employee Incentive Team is pleased to announce the following recipients of the Excellence in Action CARES Awards for 2026 by Department:
Victoria Gomez – Senior Legal Secretary – City Attorney’s Office Ashley Knight – Assistant Planner – Development Services Reginald Woolston – Budget Analyst - Finance
Chelsea Dunaway – Administrative & Fiscal Services Specialist II - Fire Department Eileen Lewis – Administrative & Fiscal Services Specialist I – Fire Department Joaquin Valladares – Fire Equipment Technician – Fire Department Stephanie Salmon – Technology Development Supervisor – Police – Police Department Jacob Thalin – Police Officer – Police Department
Juan Ambriz – Supervisor II – Public Works/General Services Zekeio Martinez – Supervisor II – Public Works/Solid Waste Renee Taylor – Fiscal & Administrative Services Officer I – Public Works/Solid Waste Wesley Alemao – Maintenance Craftworker I – Recreation and Parks Jerry McKnight – Technology Systems Engineer I – Technology Services Andrew Stone – Technology Systems Technician I – Technology Services The CARES S.T.A.R.(Shining Team Achievement Recognition) AND CARES Extra Mile Award will be presented to the Bakersfield Police Department Community Engagement Team. Team members include:
Edmond Jackson, Jennifer Chrisman, Scott Christensen, Jesus Gomez, Denise Johnson, Angela Juarez, Jose Lara, Lucinda Mora, Belkys Ripoli, Andrew Ross, Martel Spearman, and Sidney Wicks.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The action to receive this presentation will not have an impact on the City General Fund.
COUNCIL GOAL:
Innovative and Efficient City Government
ATTACHMENTS:
Brochure