The American City & County 2022 Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servant winners

Throughout the year, we have been introducing you to the 2022 winners of the annual American City & County Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servants of the Year awards.

The American City & County Crown Communities award recognizes projects that cities or counties have undertaken during the year that have had a positive impact on the community as whole. Exemplary Public Servants are chosen based on their accomplishments and the impact these actions had on their communities in the year the award is given.

The 2002 winners of the Crown Communities awards vary from the technological to transportation to the development of a commercial road, while the Exemplary Public Servants of the Year served their community through procurement, fire safety and replacing lead water lines.  Here are the winners of the 2022 Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servants of the Year awards. Click through the gallery above for examples of the winning projects.

AQMD’s mobile app
A few years ago, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) in California launched an app that displays air quality information in real time at the neighborhood level—giving residents a chance to plan accordingly. The district includes most of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties (including the Coachella Valley). The app’s latest update, which was released in May 2022, takes access to information a step further by giving Spanish speaking users the ability to navigate in their preferred language. It also lets residents submit and track air quality complaints.

Auburn Road revitalization project
The initial plan was just to repave a half-mile stretch of Auburn Road in Rochester Hills, Mich. It ended up being a multi-million-dollar revitalization project that brought new life to an economically depressed area of the region thanks in part to the city’s communication efforts with the business owners and residents in the area.

Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts’ jury selection system
The Miami-Dade County Clerk of Courts is revolutionizing the jury selection process. Administrators tore the court’s previous juror reporting process down to the studs and rebuilt it digitally, including potential jurors checking in via Zoom, filling out online questionnaires, sending out digital messaging and using online check in. The system proved so successful that administrators kept it in place when COVID distancing protocols were lifted.

Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
When the pandemic descended, public transportation organizations across the United States had to adjust overnight to decreased ridership and health safety concerns. At the same time, essential workers had to be able to make it to work. When everything reopened, Las Vegas faced unique challenges. Administrators had to balance rapidly changing ridership needs with safety protocols.

Exemplary Public Servant Molly McLoughlin
Public service is a calling, and people who enter it feel strongly about serving. Procurement, on the other hand, is not necessarily a field one is called to, but the right person can use procurement skills to benefit their community. That is the case of Molly McLoughlin, former director of facilities for the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) in Colorado.

Exemplary Public Servant Sarah Andrews
Sarah Andrews has been working in procurement from the time she could answer phones at her family’s business. “I knew I wanted to go into procurement and bidding since I was a child,” she says. “I would work with them on submitting bid responses to things, to government agencies and on the private sector side, just responding to procurement bidding opportunities.” She started taking civil service exams toward that goal, and in 2018 was hired as a contract specialist in the division of central services for Dutchess County, New York.

Exemplary Public Servant Ray Melton
Ray Melton’s journey into his current role as fire and life safety educator at Escambia County Fire and Rescue started at the age of five, when a firefighter saved his life. “I’ve been chasing fire trucks ever since,” says Melton. His fire prevention work has reduced fire-related deaths in the county, according to Jon Williams, deputy fire chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue.

Exemplary Public Servant Courtney Steger
Exposure to lead through drinking water in homes continues to be a major public health issue in the United States, and while replacing lead pipes is a costly and time-consuming project for any size community, it’s necessary for the health and wellbeing of residents. That is why Courtney Steger, utilities director of Mayville, Wisc., knew that it had to be done in her town. Her determination led to removal and replacement of all the lead service laterals in Mayville.

For a complete collection of the 2022 winners, download the special digital edition here. Nominations for the 2023 Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servant of the Year awards will be open in September.