By Andrea Arens
Ten Village of Monee employees were recognized for exemplary performance with semi-annual CREW awards during the February 28 meeting of the board of trustees.
“CREW is an acronym that defines an employee who provides exemplary work,” Mayor Therese Bogs said, introducing the recipients.
“CREW stands for Credibility, Respect, Equality/Fellowship/Identity, and Work Commitment/Personal Performance. 
“The Semi-Annual CREW Employees have shown in many ways that they go the extra mile to serve the Village’s internal and external customers, both in their attitude and performance towards their work. They are also an integral part of the CREW in how they approach the people they encounter and the work they perform.
“It is an honor,” she said, “to have the following employees recognized by their respective departments.
Parks and Recreation: Kevin Battles, Alison Chin and Emilie Kostecka
Monee Police Department: Christopher Rizzo and Jaco Ustad
Building Services: Shannon Wolf-Kruzel
Economic Development: Rachel Beckmann
Public Works: Kevin Marrero, Tyler Schumacher and Reginald Wells
Trustee Heidi Gonzalez explained why Kevin Battles, Alison Chin and Emilie Kostecka  were nominated for CREW awards.
“Kevin has come on board at parks and recreation with a wide range of expertise and experiences throughout his career.” she said.
“Kevin’s communication skills are all well received from not only residents but businesses as well. Kevin treats people the way he wants to be treated. Kevin’s commitment to his job and the Village of Monee is seen in everything he does and everyone he talks to. He is extremely passionate about parks and recreation.
“Alison has been doing a great job with the Parks and Recreation website and social media pages,” Gonzalez continued. Alison listens to everyone during our events and is very considerate with everyone’s feelings no matter the age. Alison gives 110% of herself to everything she does, not only for parks and recreation but for the Village of Monee. Alison has been working for the village for so long she sees families who rent the buildings for a child’s first birthday and see them come to events later as older children. Our seniors look forward to seeing her at our events as she is very kind and caring to all of them. Alison looks forward to them at all our events.
“Emilie has done endless research pertaining to the history of Monee.” Gonzalez said.
“This information helped everyone plan the 150th celebration. Emilie is passionate about providing new programs for the community. She also enjoys interacting with families in the community. Emilie has jumped right into her role as a supervisor with class and the up most respect for every person she has encountered. She is the type of person the Village of Monee is lucky to have representing what they stand for. She’s a wealth of knowledge and resources that she has already displayed with programs she has designed. Emilie is a true asset to the Village of Monee.”
Trustee Scott Youdris spoke about Monee Police Officers Rizzo and Jaco both of whom  “are highly respected by their peers and greatly appreciated by their supervisors. 
“There is no question as to their honesty and reliability in all facets of the job.” Youdris said. “These two officers volunteered to become part of our instructor cadre. With the onset of new mandates and a changing training environment, this is no small feat and requires a lot of commitment. Not just a working commitment, but a personal commitment. You can’t reach the level of quality and innovation that we are now incorporating into our training unless you spend a lot of your own time and resources to prepare. 
“These officers are pushing our people to another level in Officer Safety. As two former Marines, they have brought that mantra of training for reality to our curriculum. Our own officers are raving about the confidence they have after completing Use of Force trainings led by Rizzo and Jaco. This is the type of leadership and initiative we strive for. It is the making of our future.”
When Youdris concluded his remarks, Monee Police Chief Scott Koerner added, “I just want to apologize to Officers Rizzo and Jaco publicly, because I am the one who wrote this originally, and I said ‘former Marines’ and everyone in the Marines know there ain’t no such thing.”
Trustee John Henson said CREW award recipient Shannon Wolf-Kruzel “is very knowledgeable and will act to reach a fair and equitable resolution to situations at hand. 
“Shannon as a lifelong resident is 100 percent committed to equality/fellowship/identity both in her relationships with her coworkers and the public. She handles MANY tasks that help keep the department running up right and straight forward! 
“We call her the “backbone” of the Building Services Department; she is there for any of us at any time. Shannon goes above and beyond her expected duties, and she is polite, cheerful, knowledgeable about codes and ordinances and happy to help everyone who asks for information whether her co-workers, residents, business owners or future Monee residents.”
Trustee Michael Wilson praised Rachel Beckmann for her skills in the village’s Ecomic Development department.
“Rachel is a part-time employee who has been in her position for a year. With any project that she is given she has always been receptive and eager to learn something new and broaden her skills.” he said. 
“Rachel takes changes in stride, and has become a better and more confident designer, photographer, marketing coordinator. Since Rachel began in her position as Marketing Coordinator, she has been instrumental in working with Civic Plus on the total redesign of our website and has made it even easier to navigate. Because of the talent and willingness to expand her boundaries, Rachel has been given her numerous logo projects to develop and finalize from my rough sketches into ones that are professional-looking and are designed very well.”
Trustee Douglas Horne had high praise for CREW award recipients Kevin Marrero, Tyler Schumacher and Reginald Wells.
“Kevin is Monee DPW’s latest full-time employee,”  Horne said.
“We were confident Kevin could step up in the workplace and handle more responsibility and he has done exactly that. You may see Kevin out in the field reading water meters, flushing fire hydrants, and attending to Monee’s infrastructure. Kevin is very personable and easy to talk to, and he is not afraid to ask questions when he is unsure about something, or volunteer to do some extra work to help out his superiors. Kevin is a great addition to the Village of Monee DPW. He will make a great representative as he assists our community with any/all water-related appointments.
“Tyler is very dependable,” Horne continued. “When given a task he does it right away. He is always dependable to complete the task that’s given. Tyler is always respectable to his bosses and coworkers. He never complains about doing the tasks given. Tyler is always looking to improve himself and move forward with his career. He is working towards his water license as we speak. Tyler is always on time and passionate with his work habits. We are very proud to have him on our team.
“Reginald is the coworker you never have to ask to do something,” Horne said. 
“Every time you turn around he is taking the extra step to keep busy. He is very dependable to finish tasks given to him. You can find Reginald doing little extras to keep Monee clean even after hours. Reginald always gets along with his coworkers and has the ultimate respect for his managers. He lets us know he appreciates things. Reginald is more than 100 percent committed to his job. He is always interested in learning more about his current position. Reginald is very passionate about his job. I see growth in the public works department in the future. I am very happy to have him as part of our team.”
At the conclusion of the presentation, Mayor Bogs added, “A big congratulations to all our CREW award winners, as well as all of our employees. Everybody’s working really hard doing fantastic things. So, greatly appreciated.”
Village Administrator Ruben Bautista also praised the award recipients and new MPD Officer Michael Pecaro.
“Congratulations to everyone tonight who won a CREW award and to Officer Pecaro. I’m grateful for his addition to the team,” Bautista said.
“I’m going to say just a word about the CREW award, if I may. In the beginning when it was first pitched, I wasn’t sure about the idea.
“But I know that it is important to recognize our folks, and so, as we were talking about it, and we were helping this idea to grow, I started a little CREW award test.”
He then told of noticing a dead cricket near a door and deciding to leave there to see if anyone would pick it up and dispose of it. 
Two weeks later, the cricket was still there, and Bautista said, “All right, enough’s enough. How many people walked past this every day and didn’t take care of this?
“And those that (were honored) tonight, those are the ones that will pick up the cricket.
“We’re not just handing out awards for the sake of handing out awards,” he added. “That’s not what this is about. It’s for folks who go above and beyond…and that’s the leaders we have here. That’s the folks we have here. And I’m very proud of each of them.”