The City of Washington held a celebration recognizing employees’ years of service milestones this week. 

The annual employee recognition luncheon was held on Tuesday at the Washington Public Library. Over 40 staff and council members attended the event. City Administrator Joe Gaa and Mayor Millie Youngquist recognized 11 employees who achieved five-year employment milestones in 2025. 

Eric Kephart with the police department and Kirk Albert with facility maintenance were recognized for five years. Also recognized were: Parker Turner with the fire department, Nick Pacha with the parks department, and Ben Altenhofen with the police department for 10 years; and Shamus Altenhofen with the police department and Kyle Wellington with the water department for 15 years. Rhonda Hill with the police department, Jason Whisler with the wastewater department, and Brian VanWilligen with the police department have all served 20 years. LeAnn Kunz with the public library has been there for 25 years. The cumulative years of service between the 11 employees totals 155 years.

Gaa also presented two awards for service excellence over the past year. Linda Krotz was recognized for her role in payroll software upgrades, and Sergeant VanWilligen was recognized for his dedicated efforts in mentoring new officers.