When it comes to teaching your children how to help others, it’s always best to lead by example.
Pam Camarillo has been one of those people for most of her adult life in Dakota County, and now she is filling a new role in helping others as the new city administrator for the City of Dakota City.
Camarillo stepped into the new job after the retirement of Bob Kratky, and she said she is ready to be that helpful resource for the small community.
“Being a good advocate for the city is important,” she said. “It’s important to have leadership that’s fair and just listens and wants to make good decisions based upon the community’s needs, and I feel that that’s my voice and my strength.”
Camarillo has been an advocate for the people she serves almost from the moment she married her husband, Alfonso, and moved here almost 20 years ago. She is currently a member of the South Sioux City Community Schools Board of Education, has served on a number of boards and committees in the community, serves on the Port Authority board and comes to Dakota City after spending the last five years in human resources at Great West Casualty Company.
“This community just has a special place in my heart and always has,” she said.
And by serving in these leadership roles, it gives her a chance to show her three sons — Trystan, Taylor and Jordi — the importance of serving your community.
“It’s important for us to serve the community and to do good for the community and help it grow,” she said.
She will get the chance to help Dakota City in its efforts to continue to grow and be a vital part of Dakota County, working with Mayor Jerry Yacevich on a variety of projects.
“Dakota City is already great, and I just want to help enhance the team that’s already here,” she said. “I’m going to work hand in hand with Mayor Yacevich and the council to get that done and I’m really excited for this opportunity.”
Accepting this role wasn’t an easy decision, though.
Camarillo said she had the best of both worlds during her time representing Great West in a variety of community activities.
Combining her volunteerism with the structure of a corporate setup was a great opportunity, one she had a hard time walking away from to take the Dakota City job.
“I was a community liaison for Great West and was involved in a lot of activities and recruiting, so it was really a hard decision to leave that,” she said. “My heart has always belonged to community service and that was a great part of my job there, but this gives me the opportunity to be fully engulfed in a community, and that’s where my heart is.”
Camarillo cited Dakota City’s volunteer-led fire department as one of the city’s calling cards. With her husband being a firefighter himself, she said she has seen Dakota City’s firemen at work and loves the culture that it has built.
“Back when my husband was on the South Sioux fire department, we worked pretty close with Dakota City and that’s where a lot of these relationships began to form 20 years ago,” she said.
She said she is also excited to be able to call upon her contemporaries just up the road at City Hall in South Sioux City, people she said have also been helpful in her growth as a community-minded individual.
“Lance (Hedquist) and Oscar (Gomez) and some of the councilmen, I’ve worked really well with them over the years and it’s great having those mentors to turn to.”
