Date:

March 12, 2007

For More Information Contact:

Diane Gonzolas, Citizen Information Center, 441-7831

Mayor Coleen J. Seng today presented the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for February to Electrical Inspector Jerry Henkel of the Building and Safety Department. The monthly award recognizes City employees who consistently provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to the City. The award was presented at the beginning of today’s City Council meeting.

Henkel has been employed by the City since 1981. He was nominated by Chief Plans Examiner Dale Stertz in the category of productivity for his idea to modify the Department’s yellow building permit cards to make them more useful in the field. In his nomination, Stertz wrote that field inspectors sometimes need more information about the permit than what office staff can fit on the card. At Henkel’s suggestion, Building and Safety staff modified the time-consuming, hand-written method into an automated procedure. They are now able to include five times the information that had been on the card. This improvement has saved time for both the builder and the building inspector. That means money can be saved and construction can be started sooner.

The other categories in which employees can be nominated are customer relations, loss prevention, safety and valor. All City employees are eligible for the Mayor’s Award of Excellence except for elected officials and some managers. Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates and the general public. Nomination forms are available from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Personnel Department, which oversees the awards program.

All nominations are reviewed 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 $100 U.S. savings bond, a day off with pay and a plaque. Monthly winners are eligible to receive the annual award, which comes with a $500 U.S. savings bond, two days off with pay and a plaque.