Mayor to Present Annual Awards of Excellence
Published on April 08, 2024
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today will present the Annual Mayor’s Awards of Excellence for 2021 and 2022. 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.
These annual award presentations were postponed due to the pandemic and recognize City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to the City.
The 2021 Honorable Mention Award will be presented to the September 2021 winners: Equipment Operator Cody Mitchell and Concrete Finisher Joel Brunke of Lincoln Transportation and Utilities (LTU). They were nominated by Transportation Maintenance Coordinator Clayton Engelman in the category of valor for their heroic efforts to assist a resident when a bridge collapsed near their work location.
The 2021 Annual Mayor’s Award of Excellence will be presented to the November 2021 winners: Police Investigators Timothy Cronin and Matthew Franken of Lincoln Police Department. They were nominated by Sergeant Mike Ripley in the category of productivity for their efforts to solve a two-and-a-half year homicide investigation that resulted in the conviction of five individuals.
The 2022 Annual Mayor’s Award of Excellence will be presented to the July 2022 winner: Michelle Zuhlke, a Technology Support Specialist II for LTU. Zuhlke was nominated by LTU Director Liz Elliott in the categories of customer relations and productivity for her work to create the department’s informative, interactive, and visually appealing web pages. There is no Honorable Mention Award for 2022.
The categories in which employees can be nominated are productivity, customer relations, valor, 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.