City Employees from the Bellevue Street Department's South Shop were out pouring concrete on Sullivan Circle earlier this month, when they noticed a little boy and who turned out to be his Grandma, had come out an adjacent house to watch the work being performed. While Grandma sat up on the steps, the crew noticed that the youngster, named Vinny, came down and sat in the yard to get a closer look. The Street Department crews quickly noticed that Vinny even had his bright yellow safety vest on.
As the crews were getting close to finishing the project, longtime City Employee Dennis Rush invited Vinny down to give them a hand. Vinny eagerly accepted the offer and was anxious to assist. Mr. Rush handed Vinny a small broom and showed him how to put a broom finish on the concrete that they had just poured. This brought a huge smile to Vinny's face as well as the Street Department Crew that was working on this project.
This gesture has been pointed out on different media and social media outlets over the last week and we are especially proud of the fact that Vinny's Mom reached out to Mr. Rush on social media to let him know that, "Vinny hasn't stopped talking about the incident since it happened". The "Mayor's Spotlight Award" is intended to recognize employees who go the extra mile in terms of performance, providing a service or have reached a professional milestone. Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike and Administrative Assistant Lisa Rybar saw this story and realized that this was exactly the kind of story that the award was intended for.
Mayor Hike, City Administrator Jim Ristow, Public Works Director Jeff Roberts, Street Superintendent Bobby Riggs and other members of the Street Department's South Shop gathered together this morning for a brief recognition ceremony. Mayor Hike thanked Mr. Rush and the entire crew for having a positive influence on the community in this instance and for all the hard work that they do throughout the year that often times does not get recognized. Mr. Rush, who has worked for the City in various jobs since 1983, humbly thanked Mayor Hike for the recognition and pointed out the efforts of the entire Street Department Crew for this incident including; Brad Rands, Bryan Cherry, Yancey, Weddel, Chris Woodman, Jimmy Steinbach, Jim Dillon and Austin Lampman.
Thank you Heidi Dillon for the Facebook Post and the pictures of this gesture!
The City of Bellevue is proud of the City of Bellevue's South Shop for portraying the City in such a positive light! The City would also like to thank our friends at Chick-Fil-A Bellevue and DJ’s Dugout for supporting the Mayor’s Spotlight Awards by providing food and gift certificates in further recognition of these exemplary efforts!