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David Dirden
Solid Waste Management
Early one Monday, newlywed Jason Vogler took out the trash, including an unusually light 45-gallon trash bag lying just inside the front door.
“To me, the bag looked much like the other trash bags my wife and I gathered the night before,” Vogler wrote. “To my wife, it was the largest bag she could find in the house to transport her wedding dress to the dry cleaners to be heirloomed.”
The garbage truck had come and gone before Vogler realized what he’d done. He frantically drove around searching for the truck that picked up his trash.
“I just threw away my wife’s wedding dress. Not a good start to our marriage,” he wrote.
Vogler found the crew just a few blocks away. David Dirden showed compassion for Volger’s situation but told him that he’d have to follow Dirden to the transfer station on Westpark to search for the dress.
When they arrived at the station, Dirden told the Republic Waste attendants of Vogler’s situation. The two attendants set Dirdon’s truck aside and helped search for the dress.
“After rummaging through garbage for an hour, we found the dress … and saved a good portion of my marriage,” Vogler wrote. “Without the compassion of Mr. Dirden, I would be in a much worse situation today.”
Muzaffar Siddiqi
Police
Leslie Lollis, manager of the Trade Winds Apartments, was so impressed with Muzaffar Siddiqi’s work that she felt compelled to make a small donation to HPD on his behalf.
“I wanted to do something for his kindness,” Lollis wrote.
Siddiqi also impressed state Rep. Sylvester Turner.
“I hold our law enforcement professionals in the highest esteem, and even among Houston’s finest, Officer Siddiqi stands out,” Turner wrote.
“Officer Siddiqi’s work is a testament to the good men and women who make up the Houston Police Department. His outstanding police work and his dedication to the people of this city speak volumes about his character.”
Carolyn Paige
Health & Human Services
“Carolyn Paige from the Area Agency on Aging is the most compassionate person,” wrote Veronica Newman. “The mayor should hope to have more like her on that staff.”
Paige made her aunt and uncle feel important while explaining their medical benefits, Newman wrote.
“Seniors can get confused, but she just kept being patient and listening to them. She didn’t rush them at all. They were so impressed. They think she’s their guardian angel.”
J.D. Jones, W. J. Trapani
Police
While trying to rent a car from Avis in New Orleans, Roger McCall realized he’d left his wallet at a newsstand in Terminal E at Bush Intercontinental Airport. He called the airport and learned it was in the property office. But he couldn’t pick up his rental without identification.
Officer W. J. Trapani agreed to fax the driver’s license to Avis, McCall wrote. But the fax machine wasn’t working, so he drove to the Avis office at the airport and sent it from there.
“Throughout our transaction, he took ownership of my problem, thought creatively about how to solve it, stayed in communication, and provided me with all the information I needed to eventually get my wallet back,” McCall wrote.
McCall gave Officer J.D. Jones his agent’s phone number. Jones called her to arrange for her to pick up McCall’s wallet. He even provided his personal cell phone number so she could contact him after hours if she had any questions.
Later, he called to ensure there were no problems picking up the wallet.
“Please extend my thanks to these two outstanding officers for their exceptional performance,” McCall wrote. “This was certainly a little thing to them, but a big thing to me!”
Constance Acosta, Tonya Bradley, YuShan Chang
Legal
Chronicle reporter Matt Stiles frequently complains about slow response to his open-records requests. “But I also should just as vigorously praise legal department employees when they exceed my sometimes unrealistic expectations, as they often do,” he wrote.
In one case, Stiles requested copies of letters mailed to the fired employees from the Office of Mayor Pro Tem. He needed them that day to make his deadline.
Constance Acosta forwarded the request to YuShan Chang, who, with Tonya Bradley’s help, got the records to Stiles within an hour.
“YuShan and Tonya, I’m told, even had to rush together a receipt letter because I came to the lobby before they were ready,” he wrote. “Of course, I can’t always expect that kind of turnaround. Still, I really appreciated the help today.”
Veronica Hernandez
Mayor’s Office
Fisherman’s Net Career Development Center works with many undocumented Hispanic immigrants who need to be taught how to get proper documentats, wrote Betty Minucci, executive director.
When center employees come across difficult cases involving domestic violence, immigration laws, and children with special needs, they call Veronica Hernandez.
“Veronica has been instrumental in providing contacts that have been very beneficial to these cases,” Minucci wrote.
“She is a personable, responsible woman who goes the extra mile to get the job done.”