City Administrator's National Award Presented At Council Meeting
Wednesday, September 7th, 2022
The American Public Works Association honored Dalton city administrator Andrew Parker with its Presidential Leadership Award in August. Tuesday night, the APWA's immediate past president who selected Parker for the recognition presented it before the mayor and council.
Caption: Andrew Parker (left) accepts his APWA Presidential Leadership Award from Stan Brown
Each year, the outgoing president of the national association selects a recipient for the award who exemplifies the best in public works and has contributed significantly to the association’s mission. Outgoing president Stan Brown selected Parker, who served as Dalton's Public Works director before becoming city administrator, for the honor.
When presenting the honor before the mayor and council Tuesday, Brown noted that the he took note of the way the Dalton Public Works Department handled the COVID-19 pandemic and kept the city's operations running smoothly despite all of the challenges the pandemic brought while Parker served as director. Brown also noted that he'd previously honored Parker with the APWA's National Young Leader Award in 2016. Parker served as president of the APWA's Georgia chapter in 2018, and Brown noted during that time Parker helped establish an awards program and worked to align the chapter’s goals, activities and structure more closely with the APWA national strategic plan.
"We have a vision within the American Public Works Association of advancing the quality of life for all. I think that in the role that he's in now as the city administrator, he can do even more to help the citizens of this community and to support you, the mayor and council," Brown said.
"I see him as a true leader in our local governments in the state of Georgia," Brown said. "I think he's obviously a true professional when it comes to public works - that's where he got his feet wet in government and you can walk around this community and see a lot of results of his efforts. But he's also, the things I think really of Andrew are that he's I also think highly of Andrew that he's a dedicated husband, he's a great father, and he's a wonderful man of faith."
When he accepted the award Tuesday night, Andrew Parker got a laugh when he said he was less nervous in front of the small crowd gathered for the mayor and council meeting than he was when he was surprised last month with the award in front of thousands of his colleagues in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"This is a great honor," Parker told the mayor and council. "What makes it so special is really who it comes from. Stan Brown is the epitome of a public servant. He's served his local community and our state and our nation... I can't think of a better mentor."
