Galen Sparks and Susan Rocha Award for Outstanding Public Service Nomination Form

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF THE AWARDS

These Awards for Outstanding Public Service are intended to recognize and honor a current or former city attorney or assistant city attorney for his or her significant and distinguished career achievements in the field of municipal law.

PROCEDURE

1. The nominator furnishes basic information about the nominee by completing the nomination form, below (or furnishes the information called for by the form in a substantially identical format). An assistant city attorney nominee’s city attorney must approve of the nomination.
2. The nominator writes a clear and concise statement in support of the nomination describing the significant and distinguished professional achievements in the field of municipal law that have occurred or culminated during the nominee’s career as a city attorney or assistant city attorney, conveying as much information about the personal characteristics of the nominee as the nominator thinks would be helpful to the nomination, and thoroughly depicting how the nominee fulfills the criteria established for bestowing the award (see “Criteria,” below).
3. The nominator transmits the completed nomination form by the deadline. The nominations will be sent to the TCAA Board of Directors for decision. The decision of the Board of Directors will be rendered and the nominator will be notified of the decision.
4. TCAA reserves the right to withhold bestowal of the award in any given year and to reject any and all nominees.
5. Nominators may re-submit or the Board may consider nominations of nominees not selected in previous years, if appropriate.
6. The award will be presented to the person selected to receive the award at a formal award ceremony held during that year’s TCAA Summer Conference.

CRITERIA FOR BESTOWING THE AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE

The following are all of the criteria against which each nominee will be measured. The Board of Directors does not expect any nominee to meet all of the criteria. However, the nominee who best meets the most criteria will be selected as that year’s recipient. How the nominee meets the criteria should be thoroughly depicted in the nominator’s statement in support of the nomination.

1. The nominee is an active or retired city attorney or assistant city attorney of a Texas Municipal League member city. However, no person will be permitted to nominate himself or herself.
2. The nominee has realized significant and distinguished career achievements in the field of municipal law that have occurred or culminated during the nominee’s career as a city attorney or assistant city attorney. The achievements have benefited all municipal attorneys, either locally or nationally. (Some examples might be the successful representation of municipal interests before state trial and appellate courts or federal district and circuit courts, or in the United States Supreme Court, or in legislative, judicial, quasi-judicial, administrative or advisory roles; expertise in particular areas of substantive or procedural law; or other demonstrations of legal ability and public service throughout the nominee’s career. These examples are not intended to limit the kinds of achievements that should be described.)
3. The nominee’s career achievements have brought new and inspiring ideas to TCAA’s programs and activities.
4. The nominee’s career achievements have enhanced the image of the municipal attorney both locally and nationally, especially in the courts at all levels. (Objective, results-oriented information should be provided showing how the nominee’s achievements enhanced the esteem in which municipal attorneys are held by courts at all levels and how the achievements benefited the entire municipal law profession.)
5. The nominee has received recognition either locally or nationally or both for his or her achievements.
6. The nominee’s career demonstrates his or her personal characteristics of integrity, honesty, leadership, selflessness, dedication, tact, diplomacy, political acuity, and astuteness in dealing with the press and the public. (Cite examples.)
7. The nominee’s career achievements have been promulgated to their fellow municipal attorneys through his or her presentation of papers on the subject matter of the achievements or through participation on panels at programs discussing the subject matter of the achievements sponsored by local and/or national professional associations.