City of St. Helens Announces 2024 Employee of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2025

St. Helens, Ore. – Each year, the City of St. Helens names an employee of the year who consistently goes above and beyond for the public and fellow co-workers. Nominations are submitted by City employees and then reviewed by a panel of community members to make a final selection.

For the 2024 Employee of the Year selection process, the City assembled a panel of seven community members who are not related to the City of St. Helens to judge nominations. The panel was asked to set aside all bias and judge the nominees solely based on the nominations received, emphasizing the quality of the nomination and employee rather than the quantity of nominations.

On March 5, 2025, the City of St. Helens announced that the 2024 City of St. Helens employee of the year is Communications Officer Crystal King. King began working with the City in 2008 as a Receptionist and Utility Billing Specialist. She was promoted to Planning Secretary in 2011. With a need to provide more communication to the public regarding services the City provides and projects the City was working on, King, who has a degree in writing and literature, was transitioned to the City’s first-ever Communications Officer in 2012.

King was described by her nominators as professional, organized, strategic, thoughtful, and efficient with an unmatched capacity for smoothing out rough edges and responding concisely and with grace. She was noted for working with every department, sometimes far outside normal working hours, to communicate necessary information related to inclement weather, police activity, or community events. Her fellow employees recognized her for supporting the City team with staff coverage in other departments when needed and proactively collaborating with community partners to identify options for community members during natural weather events such as excessive heat waves. During the presentation of the award, City Recorder Kathy Payne said that, “she is always dependable and maintains a positive attitude. Her patience and professionalism with City communications is to the highest standard.”

In 2024, the City of St. Helens received 13 nominations for six City of St. Helens employees to be recognized as the 2024 employee of the year. In addition to King, the other nominees included Engineer II Alex Bird, Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Buck Tupper, IT Specialist Darin Cox, Interim Public Works Supervisor/Field Supervisor/Safety Coordinator Ethan Stirling, and Engineering Manager Sharon Darroux.

The St. Helens Employee of the Year program was implemented in 2013. An employee of the year is someone who consistently exemplifies behaviors that reflect favorably on the City. They are an employee that goes above and beyond on a regular basis; someone who goes the extra mile to help customers, both internally and externally; responds to inquiries in an efficient and timely manner; regularly participates in employee-related events; puts the City’s interests and the interests of their co-workers above their own; has an exemplary attendance record; behaves off duty in a manner that reflects positively on the City since City employees are public officials even outside work; has a positive attitude no matter the circumstances; and is noticed by people in and out of the organization.

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For further information regarding the employee of the year program, please contact Human Resources Coordinator/City Recorder Kathy Payne at kpayne@sthelensoregon.gov.