Mayor recognizes exceptional employee

Maryville Mayor Ben Lipiec awarded Utility Billing Clerk Ashley Turner, who is joined by her husband, Tyler, far right, and children Laney and Landon, with the Outstanding Public Servant Award during the November 9 city council meeting.

“She truly has amazing customer service skills and is a very warm and caring person!  She’s so articulate when explaining things to customers, very patient and thorough in her explanations, yet can handle the disgruntled customers with tact and calmness,” said Maryville Treasurer Denise Town. “I’m so proud of her for recognizing this situation and acting on her instincts.”

Town is describing her department’s utility billing clerk, Ashley Turner, who was honored by the Maryville City Council with the Outstanding Public Servant Award at the November 9 meeting.

“The Outstanding Public Servant Award is simply a small token of gratitude to those individuals who go above and beyond,” noted Mayor Ben Lipiec during the presentation.

While Turner is obviously not in emergency services, the nominator noted that “she basically saved my cousin’s life.” The instance involved a person with developmental disabilities who had stopped taking medication, and as a result stopped paying their utility bills.

Turner, who was hired by the city in August 2015, drew attention to the person’s account and called the building manager out of concern. Because of that call, and a subsequent wellness check, this individual was able to be admitted to the local hospital and obtain necessary medication.

The nominator said, “Stopping some of the meds he did without doctor’s supervision could have ended up killing him. Now we’re able to get him the help he needs just because she cared enough.”

Turner said, “My husband and I both have people with special needs and I hope they would look out for them if something didn’t seem normal.”