Help with dropdowns of operators and query parameters

What do you do to allow for filtering data by operator from a dropdown that works best?

I have tried some things, but the tradeoffs are vast, so I could benefit from help.
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Here are my best 2 and a half techniques so far:

On page A:
I type operator names as the value and the label both.

Cons for A:
String compare
Requires time to add or remove operators

Pros for A:
Initial setup is fast
Dropdown is reusable many places

On page B, I query all operators that worked in the last 6 months.
Then I assign a number in alphabetical order.
Then I bind the query to the options with value and label columns.

On page C, I do the same B except I add another parameter where the list of names is then filtered also by the production line.

Cons for B and C:
Initial setup is slower
Can't reuse the dropdown much
Additional filters require filtering operator query
Selecting other dropdown filters resets the dropdown of the operators

Pros:
Automatically adds and removes operators

Is there a good solution I don't know about?
Or do I need to have a table of operators and operator id numbers that I always reference
Then have the operator id put in any table that displays the operator?
Or will that just add more possible sets of errors?

Applications are not appropriate places to maintain lists of information. The best practice is to store and maintain your lists in a database, and set up your dropdowns in a way that queries their lists from there. Perhaps there is a greater initial setup and reusability cost, but in the long term, the maintenance costs are significantly reduced by this approach.

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Not to mention the ability to then report on things as well

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