Mayor to Present September 2024 Award of Excellence

Published on January 13, 2025

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird today will present the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for September 2024 to Technical Support Specialists Thomas Svehla and Sam Salem from the Lincoln Police Department (LPD). 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.

Svehla and Salem were nominated by LPD Data Processing System Supervisor Chad Dalton in the categories of productivity, loss prevention, and customer relations for their work to quickly resolve a technical issue involving Lincoln and Lancaster County emergency communications computer systems.

“Without their rapid response and technical insight, the Lancaster 911 system and LPD officers and staff would have faced significant impediments in their capacity to serve and protect the community,” Dalton wrote.

The other categories in which employees can be nominated are safety and valor. 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.