Washington, D.C., Sept. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The ICMA (International City/County Management Association) today announced the five individual and fourteen local government recipients of the 2018 Local Government Excellence Awards. The awards recognize creative contributions that these public sector leaders contribute to the quality of life in our cities, towns, and counties.
“The people and organizations recognized this year set the standard for innovation, effectiveness, and creativity in the cities, towns, counties, and academic institutions they lead,” said Marc Ott, Executive Director of ICMA. “We congratulate all the recipients and thank them for their commitment to improving the lives of the constituents they serve every day.”
The awards, conferred annually for the past 50 years, are given in two categories: the Professional Awards, which recognize individual achievement by outstanding chief administrative officers, assistant administrators, academics, and others; and the Program Excellence Awards, which are presented to local governments and their chief administrators in recognition of their innovative and successful programs.
ICMA’s 2018 Local Government Excellence Awards Recipients will be honored at the Celebration of Service to the Profession on September 26, as part of the organization’s 104th Annual Conference, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Highlights from this year’s awards include:
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- The inauguration of the Community Diversity and Inclusion Award Category. The three awards in this category (Under 10,000 population, 10,000 to 49,999 population, and 50,000 and greater population) recognize innovative and effective programs to promote diversity and inclusiveness within a community. ICMA created this category at the recommendation of the ICMA Task Force on Strengthening Inclusiveness in the Profession, a major effort of organization and industry-wide self-examination.
- San Antonio, Texas was honored with the first Community Diversity and Inclusion Award (50,000 and greater population) for its Equity Initiative. Historically, respondents to San Antonio’s equity impact assessment, which is used to ensure policy and service delivery meet residents’ needs and priorities, were not demographically representative of the city. The Equity Initiative saw San Antonio City Government engage with local nonprofits to train staff and redirect engagement and outreach efforts toward underrepresented populations. San Antonio has since improved the representativeness of responses to its assessment efforts by race, gender, age, and council district.
- Tallahassee, Florida was given the Community Partnership Award (50,000 and greater population) for its Tallahassee Future Leaders Academy (TFLA). In order to meet the need for structured activities for local youth, the program provides job readiness training, six weeks of employment, financial literacy and education, and exposure to nearby colleges. Since the program was started by Mayor Andrew Gillum in 2014, more than 600 youth have participated and have received a total of 1,058 professional certifications.
- Darin Atteberry, ICMA-CM, city manager of Fort Collins, Colorado was honored with the Award for Career Excellence in Memory of Mark E. Keane. In a career defined by innovation, Atteberry has transformed his organization’s budget process, begun a municipal broadband utility, and set Fort Collins on the road to carbon neutrality. Atteberry is well known for his leadership style, encouraging staff to take their own initiative, relentlessly pursuing excellence, and challenging others to do the same.
- The inauguration of the Community Diversity and Inclusion Award Category. The three awards in this category (Under 10,000 population, 10,000 to 49,999 population, and 50,000 and greater population) recognize innovative and effective programs to promote diversity and inclusiveness within a community. ICMA created this category at the recommendation of the ICMA Task Force on Strengthening Inclusiveness in the Profession, a major effort of organization and industry-wide self-examination.
Find a full list of awardees in the attached addendum, the forthcoming October 2018 issue of PM Magazine, and at https://icma.org/2018-icma-award-recipients
The 2018 ICMA Local Government Excellence Awards, as well as the Celebration of Service Ceremony, are sponsored by Dude Solutions, a leading provider of cloud-based operations management software to optimize facilities, assets and workflow.
Awardees were chosen from 151 nominees by an independent, nineteen-member evaluation panel of local government professionals.
For more information about ICMA’s Local Government Excellence Awards, contact Joyce Lee at jlee@icma.org or (202) 962-3625
About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA provides member support, publications, data and information, peer and results-oriented assistance, and training and professional development to more than 12,000 appointed city, town, and county leaders and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities throughout the world, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.
About Dude Solutions
Dude Solutions is a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of operations management solutions to education, government, healthcare, senior living, manufacturing and membership-based organizations. For nearly two decades, Dude Solutions has inspired clients to create better work and better lives. We combine innovative, user-friendly technology with the world's smartest operations engine, empowering operations leaders to transform the most important places in our lives. Today, more than 11,000 organizations use our award-winning software to manage maintenance, assets, energy, safety, IT, events and more.
Addendum: 2018 Local Government Excellence Awards Recipients
ICMA congratulates the recipients of its 2018 Local Government Excellence Awards:
Professional Awards
- Award for Career Excellence in Memory of Mark E. Keane recognizes an outstanding chief local government administrator who has fostered representative democracy by enhancing the effectiveness of local elected officials and by consistently initiating creative and successful programs. Recipient: Darin Atteberry, city manager, Fort Collins, Colorado.
- Award for Career Development in Memory of L. P. Cookingham recognizes an outstanding local government administrator who has made a significant contribution to the career development of new talent in professional local government management. Recipient: Gloria Hurtado, Deputy City Manager, Santa Rosa, California.
- Assistant Excellence in Leadership Award in Memory of Buford M. Watson, Jr. recognizes a local government management professional who has made significant contributions toward excellence in leadership while serving as an assistant (regardless of title) to a chief local government administrator or department head. Recipient: Henry Hill III, ICMA-CM, Deputy City Manager, Frisco, Texas.
- Early Career Leadership Award in Memory of William H. Hansell, Jr. recognizes an outstanding early career local government professional who has demonstrated leadership, competency, and a commitment to local government as a profession. Recipient: Brant Hanson, City Manager, Ephraim City, Utah.
- Academic Award in Memory of Stephen B. Sweeney recognizes an academic leader who has made a significant contribution to the formal education of students pursuing careers in local government. The award was established in the name of the longtime director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. Recipient: Orville Powell, Clinical Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Program Excellence Awards
Community Diversity and Inclusion Awards recognize innovative and effective programs to promote diversity and inclusiveness within a community. This category has been inaugurated this year at the recommendation of the ICMA Task Force on Inclusiveness in the Profession.
- Under 10,000 population: Connecting Our Community to be More Inclusive—Flossmoor, Illinois and Bridget Wachtel, village manager; Allison Deitch, assistant village manager.
- 10,000 to 49,999 population: You, Me, We = Oakley—Oakley, California and
Bryan Hyrum Montgomery, ICMA-CM, city manager; Nancy Marquez, assistant to the city manager.
- 50,000 and greater population: Equity Initiative—San Antonio, Texas and
Sheryl Sculley, city manager.
Community Health and Safety Awards recognize the local government the innovative programs or processes that improve the community's safety, health, and/or wellness, or enhance the quality of life for the disadvantaged. This category is sponsored in part in memory of Carolyn Keane, first wife of ICMA’s fourth Executive Director, Mark E. Keane, and in memory of Bill and Alice Hansell, parents of ICMA’s fifth Executive Director, Bill Hansell.
- Under 10,000 population: Active Shooter Training—New Richmond, Wisconsin and Mike Darrow, city administrator; Craig Yehlik, chief of police.
- 10,000 to 49,999 population: A Way Out Program: Lake County Opioid Initiative—
Mundelein, Illinois and John Lobaito, village administrator; Eric Guenther, chief of police
- 50,000 and greater population: Douglas County Mental Health Initiative—
Douglas County, Colorado and Douglas DeBord, ICMA-CM, county manager;
Barbara Jean Drake, deputy county manager.
Community Partnership Awards recognize the programs or processes between and/or among a local government and other governmental entities, private sector businesses, individuals, or nonprofit agencies to improve the quality of life for residents or provide more efficient and effective services.
- Under 10,000 population: Irv and Mary Sather Skylark Skate Park—New Richmond, Wisconsin and Mike Darrow, city administrator; Noah Wiedenfeld, management analyst.
- 10,000 to 49,999 population: Glastonbury Riverfront Park and Boathouse —
Glastonbury, Connecticut and Richard Johnson, town manager;
Ray Purtell, director of parks and recreation.
- 50,000 and greater population: Tallahassee Future Leaders Academy—Tallahassee, Florida and Reese Goad, interim city manager; Angela Hendrieth, manager of workforce development;
Willie Williams, talent development specialist II/TFLA program coordinator.
Community Sustainability Awards recognize the innovative local government programs or processes that demonstrate innovation, excellence, and success in balancing that community's social, economic, environmental, and cultural needs.
- Under 10,000 population: Kenilworth 2023 Infrastructure Improvement Plan—Kenilworth, Illinois and Patrick Brennan, ICMA-CM, village manager.
- 10,000 to 49,999 population: Cedar Hill Growing Green Program—Cedar Hill, Texas and
Gregory Porter, ICMA-CM, city manager; Melissa Valadez-Cummings, assistant city manager.
- 50,000 and greater population: Green Stormwater Infrastructure and Low-Impact Development—Raleigh, North Carolina and Ruffin Hall, city manager.
Strategic Leadership and Governance Awards recognize the innovative and successful local government programs or processes that have significantly affected a local government organization's culture or strategic direction.
- 10,000 to 49,999 population: Olathe Performs—Olathe Kansas and
Michael Wilkes, city manager; Susan Sherman, ICMA-CM, assistant city manager; Dianna Wright, ICMA-CM, director of resource management; Edward Foley II, performance analyst.
- 50,000 and greater population: Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance—
Norristown, Pennsylvania and Crandall Jones, ICMA-CM, municipal administrator; Brandon Ford, assistant to the administrator.
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