Jurisdictions are constantly coming up with creative ways to better serve their communities, and ICMA’s annual awards program seeks to recognize the innovative and successful programs local government leaders have implemented in the last year. ICMA recently announced the winners of the 2011 Program Excellence Awards, who will be honored at ICMA’s Annual Conference in Milwaukee. These are awarded in four categories for each of three population ranges: less than 10,000; between 10,000 and 49,999; and 50,000 and greater.

The 2011 ICMA Program Excellence Award winners in four categories are:

Community Health and Safety

• Healthy Highland Park, Highland Park, Ill., and city manager David M. Limardi and assistant to the city manager Emily Palm.
• Bob Janes Triage Center/Low Demand Shelter, Lee County, Fla., and county manager Karen B. Hawes.

Community Partnership

• Water-Wise Garden Program, Sonoma, Calif., and city manager Linda Kelly.
• STAY UA, Upper Arlington, Ohio, and city manager Virginia L. Barney.
• Addressing Mesquite Day, Mesquite, Tex., and city manager Ted Barron. 

Community Sustainability

• Mobile 311, Asheboro, N.C., and city manager John N. Ogburn, III.
• Communication & Service in Sugar Land: Multi-Cultural Outreach & Education Program, Sugar Land, Tex. and city manager Allen Bogard.

Strategic Leadership and Governance

• Comprehensive Citizen Engagement Program, Windsor Heights, Iowa, and city administrator Marketa George Oliver and director, administrative services Joshua Lee Heggen.
• Changing the Public (and Internal) Perspective of Local Government Through a Quality Work Culture, High Levels of Employee Ownership and Great Service Delivery, Montgomery, Ohio, and city manager Cheryl Hilvert, and assistant city manager Wayne Davis.
• Local Stimulus Program, St. Lucie County, Fla., and county administrator Faye W. Outlaw.

Learn More

Look for more information on the stories behind these winning programs soon. In the meantime, you can learn more from the many impressive success stories from previous award winners and nominees.

• Read summaries of the 2010 Program Excellence Award nominations in each category:
  • Community Health and Safety
  • Community Partnership
  • Community Sustainability
  • Strategic Leadership and Governance
• Browse award nomination documents in the Knowledge Network's document library by selecting "Award" as the Document Type in the filter on the left. You can also narrow down by topic.
• Visit the Annual Awards page for more inforantion on the awards program, including descriptions of winners over the last ten years.