Countywide : 14 Women Employees Honored by County

Fourteen county employees representing various disciplines were honored Monday evening at the county’s first annual Woman of Achievement awards reception, held on National Women’s Equality Day.

A panel of judges chose winners from among 81 nominees for the award program, which was established by the Board of Supervisors on June 10 in the county’s first effort to recognize the achievements of women staff members.

The recipients were: Shirli Allen, airport engineer for John Wayne Airport; Nancy Clark, an investigator for the public defender’s office; Mai Cong, mental health specialist for the Health Care Agency; Myrna Hamid, staff development specialist for the Social Services Agency; Peg Jones, supervising clerk for the General Services Agency; Margaret Kuo, chief criminalist for the sheriff-coroner, and Jan Mittermeier, audit chief for the auditor-controller.

Also honored were Fire Department paramedic Wendy Norwood; personnel analyst Gail Patrick; Karen Peters, senior analyst for the hazardous materials program office; Betty Shaffer, administrative analyst for the Environmental Management Agency; Vina Spiehler, former senior forensic toxicologist for the sheriff-coroner; Penny Weismuller, public health program manager, and employment services specialist Carmen Whitegon of the Community Services Agency.