Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Recognized: Larry Brown

Larry Brown can add another title to the list

By Shari Kaplan

During a decade of service to the town of Los Gatos, Larry Brown has held various titles. Now he can add another to that list: Employee of the Year.

The Los Gatos Employee of the Year Award goes to one of the four individuals selected as employees of the quarter. In 1996, the other honorees were Patsy Madrid, secretary to the town manager; Tara Lang of Los Gatos Community Services; and librarian Shirley Skellenger.

Written quarterly nominations come from town employees and are reviewed by the Customer Service Committee. At the end of the year, town employees chose one employee for special recognition for his or her yearlong achievements.

"It's a nice honor to have. I believe a lot of people in the town work hard and do extra duties; I get a lot of inspiration from them, too," Brown said, adding that he also enjoys working here because of the "small-town feel."

Brown, who once lived in San Jose and currently resides in Ben Lomond, joined the town of Los Gatos in March 1986 as a nighttime parking control officer for the police department. During the day, he taught at Casa Maria Montessori School in Los Gatos. His parking-control job became full time, and he later became a community service officer and worked as a warrants and statistics clerk in the police records department.

In his current CSO capacity, he works in the evidence room of the detective bureau, handling physical evidence such as clothing and drug paraphernalia, filing, doing research on the ever-changing laws of the criminal justice system and working with the District Attorney's office.

"It's a challenge because you're dealing with a lot of different things. You have to make sure cases maintain their chain of evidence," Brown said.

"The main things we deal with are guns, money and drugs. It's a challenge working with all the laws dealing with property and evidence. I have a lot of independence in this job, and I like that."

Brown has also been town telephone systems manager since July 1993. Among other things, he ensures that the phone systems, switches and wiring are up and running properly and trains other town personnel on how to use the ever-higher-tech systems. He also responds to "panic calls" at all times of day when a problem crops up in any part of the communications system.

"Larry accepted this additional assignment with no prior technical knowledge," said Town Manager David Knapp. "He received minimal formal training but has learned quickly and has done a superior job maintaining the town phone system while still functioning full time as a community service officer."