Page 7 - Mid Valley Times 10-29-20 E-edition

Thursday, October 29, 2020
Longtime city employee announces retirement
The View From Here
My fa- vorite can- dy of all time is the York Pep- permint
Patty.
I have
them al-
most daily.
They’re
small and can satisfy my sweet tooth almost instant- ly. Across the street from our Reedley Exponent of- fice is Sweet Destinations a beautiful candy store that I frequent almost daily.
The afternoon of Oct. 27 was no different. I walked over to Sweet Destinations and picked up my 4 for $1 peppermints and then pro- ceeded to walk to Reedley City Hall. I was going to meet with Sylvia Plata. For the past 30 years, Sylvia has served the city of Reedley as the city clerk and execu- tive assistant to the city manager.
I tried to interview Syl- via in her office but quick- ly learned her office was a hub of excitement. People coming and going talking city business inside Nicole Zieba’s office.
“Tonight for example," she said. "We have a couple of presentations, we need to be on top and make sure the mayor is on top of what’s going on. We tell him how the meetings will be going, this one has a public hear- ing, this one doesn’t.”
“While I am the ears and eyes for the city manager on things," she continued. "Obviously, also I take all the direction from the city manager, but then I also have the council that I re- port to."
SEE COLUMN on page A8
By Juanita Adame
Mid Valley Times
During her last week on the job, Sylvia Plata, Reed- ley’s City Clerk and Execu- tive Assistant to the city man- agersaidshestillremembers how she’d answer the phone back in January 1990.
“Thank you for calling dial-a-ride how may I help you?,” Plata said with a laugh. “I started with the city of Reedley thirty years ago as a dispatcher for the transit.”
Plata said since then she worked her way to where she is today and she has enjoyed every minute of it.
“It’s funny because people will ask me, how much I get paid, and I”ll respond I have no idea, I get it direct depos- ited,” she said. “And people will then ask, how do you not know that? I say because I come to work and I enjoy my job.”
Plata, an Orange Cove na- tive and one of nine children said she began working al-
SEE PLATA on page A8
Juanita Adame
Ruiz Foods 6th Annual Pink Out Day
Photo of the week
Photo by Juanita Adame / Mid Valley Times
Sylvia Plata, the City of Reedley Clerk and Executive Assistant to the city manager posed for a photo at her desk during the last week of work before her retirement.
Guzman named medical director at Reedley Cypress Office
Contributed
Dr. Luis Guzman, MD.
Contributed
The Adventist Health Medical Office in Reedley has named Luis Guzman, MD. as its newest medical director for their Reedley Cypress of- fice.
Dr. Guzman previously cared for patients at the Ad- ventist Health Physicians Network in Reedley and re- cently transitioned his medial practice to the new position on Oct. 20.
Originally from New York, Guzman was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Bolivia for sev- eral years. While in Bolivia,
he earned his medical degree at Universidad Nuestra Se- nora De la Paz and returned to California to complete his residency at Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Ange- les. He began caring for pa- tients in the Central Valley in 2014, establishing his family medicine practice in Reedley.
Certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, Guzman will provide a lead- ership role in patient care and service. He is fluent in English and Spanish and is passionate about educating patients to help them take control of their medical con- ditions and partnering with
them on their health journey so they may live healthy lives. When he is not caring for patients, Guzman is an active member of the Reedley com- munity and enjoys visiting new restaurants, exercising and exploring the outdoors with his wife and two chil-
dren.
Guzman is accepting new
patients and may be reached at Adventist Health Medical Office – Reedley
Cypress, located at 372 W. Cypress Ave., in Reedley. More information and ap- pointments are available by calling 559-391-3110 or visit- ing ReedleyCare.com.
Contributed
Ruiz Foods employees posed for a photo dressed in all pink and socially distant for their annual "Pink Out Day" at the company in Dinuba.
Mid Valley Times
On October 22, 928 Ruiz Team Members from both the Dinuba and Tulare manufactur- ing facilities that wore pink. Team Members working from home were asked to email the 'pink' photo.
This means that Ruiz Foods will donate $9,280 to Lost Girls Fund supporting the Kaweah Delta Foundation and their breast health center.
The Lost Girls Fund pays for diagnostic treatments for uninsured or underinsured women in the community, as well as comfort care items that are not covered by insurance.
Since the first 'Pink Out' Day in 2015, Ruiz Foods plants in Dinuba/Tulare have raised nearly $40,000 during their an- nual 'Pink Out' Day.
Contributed
It's like being at the football game. A cardboard cutout of Reed- ley native Danny Jimenez is positioned at the north corner of the end zone inside Bulldog Stadium. Have a photo you'd like featured? Email juanita@midvalleypublishing.com.