Honoring Distinguished Service

A special recognition and thank you to three individuals who have demonstrated distinguished service to the City of Golden.

Human Resources Director Teresa Reilly has faithfully served the City of Golden since May 1996 and will retire at the end of June after 25 years in the position. Over the years, Teresa has been instrumental in leading the modernization and professionalization of the City’s human resources function that now serves a regular workforce of 260 employees and some 380 parttime/ seasonal employees and volunteers. Prior to her arrival, many HR functions were decentralized and lacked standardization throughout the organization. Under her leadership and guidance, the City’s human resources department has transformed into a unit that is fully capable in navigating a complex array of changing employment rules and regulations. Among her many accomplishments, she has improved the City’s recruitment and retention practices, kept the City current with respect to compensation and benefits, and introduced numerous employee recognition opportunities. The end result of all of her work has been an organization that is highly valued by its employees and verified, through numerous employee satisfaction surveys over the years, as a fantastic place to work. The City has been the fortunate recipient of Teresa’s talent for all of these years. The professionalism, dedication, loyalty, and enthusiasm that she brought to her work on a daily basis will truly be missed.

Since the 1990's, City Attorney David S. Williamson (affectionately known as “Red”), of the firm Williamson & Hayashi, LLC, has been involved in representing the City of Golden — first as an assistant city attorney, and later, as City Attorney beginning in 2008. He and his associates have provided excellent legal advice to the City of Golden and the Golden City Council over the years on a wide-ranging variety of matters, including land use, zoning, employment, real estate, contract, and intergovernmental agreements. Dave has successfully represented the City in numerous court cases and various negotiations over the years. He has also advised City staff and City Council on policy and procedural matters, always ensuring that the City’s interests are well represented. A consummate professional, his warm demeanor and friendly disposition will be missed as will his regular presence during City Council meetings.

Since her arrival in late 2018, Golden Fire Chief Alicia Welch has served the Golden Fire Department with tremendous passion, devotion, and professionalism. Chief Welch will be returning to her home state of California where she can be near and help care for her parents. The City offers its thanks and gratitude to Alicia for her service, and recognizes the accomplishments she has made. In just a few short years under her command, the Department has achieved significant progress and improvements in service, and has made strides toward more consistent staffing to serve the growing call volumes in Golden. During Alicia’s tenure, Golden welcomed four career firefighters to the Department. She also led the development of additional incentive programs to help create consistency in staffing from our volunteers. The City’s ambulance contract was revised and an enhanced service level established. And, in working with other area Fire Chiefs, Alicia helped launch a study to consider how area departments can work together to provide more consistent and improved fire response services. Perhaps most importantly, she has spent considerable time and energy strengthening the relationship between Golden Fire Department, its members, and the Golden community.

Please join me in thanking them for their contributions and service to Golden.