On Tuesday, March 19, Lisa Whitten, Whitesboro’s Communications Supervisor for the Police Dispatch Department, was recognized by dispatcher Curlen Barger on behalf of the Dispatch Department to honor her hard work, dedication and honorable leadership as a supervisor. Whitten has worked for the Dispatch Department for 27 years.
Every year the Texoma Council of Governments (TCOG) in Sherman presents a Supervisor of the Year Award. This year, Whitten was nominated by two dispatchers from the Whitesboro department, but unfortunately did not win.
“We, the dispatchers here at Whitesboro, felt that this was completely unacceptable and we wanted to do something about it,” Barger said. “Even though the spotlight is not her thing and she would rather not have attention brought upon her, we felt that it was absolutely necessary to take the time to honor her in our own special way.”
Barger went on to mention all the qualities and characteristics that have made Whitten such an amazing leader. She also shared with council some of the recommendation letters that were written about Whitten.
Mentions included how Whitten sets the bar very high so all employees can be proud of where they work and what they do everyday. She has selflessly fought to get raises for the dispatchers and is the one everyone comes to when anyone within the department needs advice or direction. She is the guiding force in the Whitesboro Police Department and she is the backbone of the agency.
Barger said the Whitesboro Dispatch Department serves five separate fire agencies, Whitesboro’s Police Department and EMS for the entire Western Grayson County. Whitten is constantly and consistently communicating with Fire Chiefs, Police Chiefs, city personnel and the Emergency Management Coordinator. Whitten manages to lead in all these areas and so much more behind the scenes.
Barger was sure to say the award was completely made-up but felt that Whitten is so deserving of it. Whitten was awarded “The World’s Best Supervisor” Dispatch Supervisor Award.
“Lisa is the type of person that we each strive to become one day and ‘if’ -- the key word here is ‘if’ because we all know how dedicated to this job that she is -- if she ever decides to retire one day, the next person has some extremely large shoes to fill,” Barger said.
