Mayor to Present February 2024 Award of Excellence
Published on April 22, 2024
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today will present the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for February 2024 to Cindy Krushenisky, Kimberly Jorgensen, Sharon Sayre, Ali Bousquet, and Scott Clark from Lincoln City Libraries (LCL). The awards will be presented at 3 p.m. at the beginning of the City Council meeting at the County-City Building, 555 S. 10th Street. The awards recognize City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to Lincoln.
The team was nominated by LCL Library Coordinator Leeann Sergeant in the category of valor for its work to help a Bennett Martin Public Library patron during a medical emergency in December 2023.
In her nomination, Sergeant wrote that team members, including security guard Firas Pirali, noticed a patron was unconscious, called 911, and followed instructions to provide chest compressions, which revived the patron. Lincoln Fire and Rescue arrived shortly thereafter and transported the patron to the hospital.
“These staff care a great deal for their community. Daily, they go above and beyond to help people. With this situation, there was absolutely no hesitation on anyone's part to jump into action and try to help which ended up saving a man's life. I'm so impressed with how staff handled it, and how well they look out for each other,” Sergeant wrote.
The other categories in which employees can be nominated are productivity, customer relations, safety, and loss prevention. Consideration also may be given to nominations that demonstrate self-initiated accomplishments or those completed outside of the nominee’s job description. All City employees are eligible for the award except for elected and appointed officials.
Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates, and the public. Nomination forms are available at lincoln.ne.gov/awardofexcellence or from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Human Resources Department, which oversees the awards program.
All nominations are considered by the Mayor’s Award of Excellence Committee, which includes a representative with each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor. Award winners receive a $50 gift certificate, a day off with pay and a certificate. All monthly winners and nominees are eligible to receive the annual award, which comes with a $250 gift certificate, two days off with pay and a plaque.