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Top 100 Local Government Influencers – 2021

2021 Top Local Government Influencers

Each year, ELGL recognizes the top 100 influencers in local government.

The award, previously named the Traeger Award, is named after Chris Traeger, the city manager for the fictional City of Pawnee, Indiana on the show "Park and Recreation." He was known for extreme energy and commitment to improving local government.

The Top Influencer List is not based on longevity or title. It’s based on an individual’s influence in their community and outside their community through professional associations, mentoring, and writing.

Any current ELGL member is eligible to make a nomination. If you're not yet a member, you can join here.

Winners:

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Traeger Winners: #90-#81

suki tabor

Suki Tabor

Ithaca, NY Youth Bureau

Deputy Director

LinkedIn


Collaborator, Caring, Catalyst

Suki is committed to youth and families throughout Tompkins County. She makes sure that all people feel welcome at the Ithaca Youth Bureau and continues to push the City and community to engage in difficult conversations to implement equitable systems.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Lisa Sierra

Lisa Sierra

City of Calgary, CA

Innovation Manager

LinkedIn


Passionate, Connected, Resourceful

Lisa goes out of her way to help others in the innovation network. She is kind and always wants to help. She is proactive in reaching out to help new members. She generously shares the work that she does in hopes of helping others in our network. She is worthy of this recognition and I hope you select her.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Chris Sharrock

Chris Sharrock

City of Pataskala, OH

Utility Director

LinkedIn


Adaptable, Dedicated, Knowledgable

Chris deserves to be considered for this award for multiple reasons. Primarily, he works constantly to maintain and improve the relationship between the City of Pataskala Utility Department and the community that he serves. In the last year alone, he led three significant projects.

The City of Pataskala underwent a significant upgrade to its Water Reclamation Facility. This meant that the old lagoon system would be used over the summer. As one might imagine, this temporary shift resulted in a series of odor related complaints from citizens that reside close to the plant. Not only did Chris stay in contact with every member of the public that had concerns, he wrote regular website updates throughout the summer. He also took the initiative to implement a temporary solution to the problem. This is typical of Chris: using his technical expertise to solve a problem AND addressing citizens’ concerns at the same time.

Chris’s second project was a redesign of the Utility Department logo. While this may seem minor, it was his initiative to suggest a “water bottle giveaway” highlighting the new logo that was such a success. He designed the project so that it was funded through a public/private initiative meaning absolutely no money was spent from the water and sewer rates paid by the citizens. It is this kind of forethought that Chris shows on a regular basis. The water bottles were primarily distributed to the public for free, at the local summer street fair and it was an absolute success, once again demonstrating Chris’s ability to utilize his professional experience to positively influence our community.

Finally, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Health established a program to test various wastewater plants in an attempt to gather more accurate numbers in regard to the COVID-19 infection rates. Chris lobbied for Pataskala’s inclusion in this program realizing that it was another avenue to assist with tracing the spread of the disease in his community. Pataskala was included in the program and was the smallest community in the state thanks to his initiative.

Chris Sharrock, like Chris Traeger himself, has the best intentions of serving his community and supporting his staff and colleagues. When City Council identified a need for a utility rate increase, Chris spent countless hours comparing surrounding community rates all the while being cognizant of the strain that a rate increase could put on our citizens. Eventually he was able to provide council with a path for a series of three smaller increases phased in over 5 years. Additionally, there are many instances of how Chris mentors his staff. He confronts problems directly and fairly but constantly looks for ways to professionally develop the employees of the Utility Department.

Chris’s dedication to Pataskala has a long history; after serving in the U.S. Army, Chris started at the city in 2004 in the lowest position in the water department. His work ethic and experience eventually led to his promotion through the ranks to his current position of Director of Utilities. He has a Class 2 Wastewater Operator license and a Class 3 Water Supply Operator license from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. He is also a member of the American Water Works Association, the Water Environment Federation and the Ohio Water Environment Association. Under his leadership, the Pataskala Utility has been awarded the 2020 OWEA Safety Award and the 2017 Ohio Water Environment Association Outstanding Operator Award. Chris is quite literally a water warrior for his local government.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Shane

Shane McDaniel

City of Seguin, TX

Director of IT

LinkedIn | Twitter


Accountable, Communicative, Driven

Since his hiring in 2018 as the City of Seguin’s first Director of IT, Shane has led a technology evolution for one of the oldest cities in Texas. Over the following three years several miles of high strand count single mode fiber has been added to the city owned fiber ring allowing for twelve city facilities to be connected via fiber alongside a three-year capital project to refresh and rebuild the entire flat network adding dynamic routing for full redundancy across the city’s data centers. All but one of the nearly thirty city owned facilities are now connected via fiber, with plans underway to connect the last remaining facility. High availability internet access was incorporated as part of the effort for SAAS (software as a service) platforms through competing vendor circuits. Along with enhanced perimeter security and virtual private network access, the new infrastructure paid off handsomely for virtual enablement through the Covid-19 pandemic and Texas winter storm of 2021.

In FY18-19 a new document management platform was implemented along with an upgraded video management system (VMS), the number of security cameras in the city having nearly tripled since 2018. A two-year capital effort was completed in 2021 to overhaul the dated systems architecture to a hyperconverged platform allowing plenty of storage and processing growth for the fast-growing Texas city. A new public safety CAD was brought online in 2019, with Seguin being the first city in the state to connect to a regional hub for real time data sharing with neighboring agencies earning the department its first state recognition. Bodycams were deployed in 2019 followed by a full renovation of Dispatch 911 in 2020. A two year two-million-dollar effort to upgrade the end of life radio infrastructure to a P25 system interconnected with neighboring agencies impacting the lives of 160k citizens across the region was completed in 2020.

Seguin IT initiated the “Seguin Cyber Champion” program to advocate for cybersecurity awareness within the organization and beyond. Proclamations are given every October to help raise awareness beyond the city’s internal staff. Multiple cybersecurity layers have been added to the city’s enterprise through advancements. These advancements aided the city in meeting new federal American Water Infrastructure Act mandates for the two water systems his department supports. Three new and/or renovation facilities projects were brought online with three more currently in progress, one of which being the largest and most expensive initiative in the history of the city to upgrade the city’s wastewater needs through the year 2075.

Leveraging technology to aid in managing the strong commercial and residential growth a wholesale upgrade to the city’s planning and development software took place in 2021. Trail cams were built in house and deployed in the city’s parks system leveraging IoT (Internet of Things) technology in conjunction with a major cellular provider. The wireless infrastructure was upgraded. On the docket for FY21-22 is an upgrade to the telecom infrastructure, the last major piece of technology infrastructure yet to be overhauled, along with publicly accessible Wi-Fi in public gathering places.

In addition to his work as a technology executive for the city, Shane serves on the Board of Directors and as chair of the conference committee for the state’s local government technology organization TAGITM. He also serves as co-chair of the cybersecurity committee for the Texas Public Power Association (TPPA), advocating in the education and transformation of respective technology environments for member agencies. Shane was awarded the 2021 TAGITM President’s Award for his exemplary and lasting contribution to Texas local government and a 2020 Government Technology Magazine “Best of Texas” award.

In 2021 Shane served as a featured contributor for GovLoop, publishing a series of twelve articles for the government employee based online network. He gives back to the government technology community by speaking on technology panels and leading educational sessions on behalf of cybersecurity, technology, and innovation for multiple organizations. He has been featured in podcasts and magazines and his department has been recognized on the state and national level eight times since 2018. His department most recently won StateScoop Magazine’s 2020 IT Innovation of the Year and the 2021 GMIS International Government to Citizen (G2C) award for their efforts. In his spare time Shane also runs countryexec.com, his personal website dedicated to leadership and development derived via the constructs of his rural upbringing and professional experience.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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derek Konofalski

Derek Konofalski

City of Gilbert, AZ

Data and Technology Analyst- Gilbert, AZ

LinkedIn | Twitter


Creative, Dedicated, Innovative

Derek is a self proclaimed “nerd” and is always on the cutting edge of local government technology. He manages Gilbert’s Open Data Initiative, and also has transformed the Gilbert 311 program. He also produces the “Government Gone Digital” podcast and does web and app development. He’s easy to work with and someone who is making a huge difference because of his work style and creativity.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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EA Hoppe

E.A. Hoppe

City of Kerrville

City Manager

LinkedIn


Inspirational, Supportive, Encouraging

Mr. Hoppe was recently promoted from Deputy City Manager to City Manager here in Kerrville. The transition was not only smooth, but encouraging to the city staff. EA has created a solid momentum for staff to bring up and support city projects. He encourages the city staff and community leaders to share the great work that we work on.

His positivity is contagious and his drive is easily recognized by everyone around him. EA’s attitude and encouragement has significantly softened the impacts and improved the community attitude around coming out of the pandemic. Through sharing good news and keeping a strong momentum on local projects, there has been very little focus on the negative impacts of the pandemic. Most of the conversations around the community still remain positive.

During staff meetings, EA’s attitude is equally as uplifting and encouraging as it is when in a public setting. This consistency just reinforces the strong influence EA has on the community. He focuses on individual employee growth as well as succession planning for the organization.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Samantha Hillson

Samantha Hilson

Tompkins County, NY Health Department

Director of Health Promotion

LinkedIn


Smart, Kind, Caring

Samantha is a committed health professional who cares for our community. She has worked with her other members of the community to ensure that everyone is provided infomation where they are. if it means through community navigators, translated materials, or in other ways.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Larissa Johnson

Larissa Johnson

Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection

Residential Energy Program Manager

LinkedIn


Energetic, Inclusive, Creative

Larissa Johnson deserves a place on the 2021 Traeger list because she can figure out a way to partner with just about every organization, business, or person she meets. Through the Montgomery Energy Connection platform, she has created innovative programming that focuses on energy efficiency and meets people where they are – such as Brews and Bulbs at breweries, Books and Bulbs at libraries, LEDs and Libations at our County run liquor stores.

Without any new funding, personnel, or resources, she has created a video series called Home Energy Hacks that is produced at no additional cost to the Department. Outside of her regular work responsibilities, she has also become the lead for our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion group within our department, leading the entire County government in that work group effort, and is our LiveWell champion to encourage our department to be active with fun and engaging events. Larissa is a dynamic, energetic, and innovative person who literally breaks the mold on what’s considered a “government employee.”

Larissa has grown and managed the Montgomery Energy Connection, a comprehensive energy efficiency education and partnership program. This program goes beyond the department we’re in and spans County-wide including multiple government departments, private businesses, and residents of Montgomery County.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Mike Giansanti

Mike Giansanti

City of Boulder, CO

Innovation & Technology Deputy Director – Business Intelligence & Applications

LinkedIn


Visionary, Strategic, Thoughtful

Mike has an incredible vision not only for what technology can do, but also for the impact it can have on local government. He is leading initiatives for Workday implementation, a new CRM, the City of Boulder’s first data warehouse, and is also a key part of projects driving Boulder to being a Smart City, such as fiber and 5G.

Mike is strategic, and drives progress on important work, such as his role on a Policy team working to ensure safe and welcoming spaces in Boulder, and supporting a police application that will aggregate many data sources to allow better informed officers and for BPD leadership to make data-informed decisions. Mike is an incredible leader, and the City of Boulder is lucky to have him driving our IT department forward.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Gladys Larson

Gladys Larson

Tompkins County, NY

Senior Probation Officer

LinkedIn


Inspirational, Energizing, Fun

Gladys brings empathy and kindness to everything she does. As a probation officer she treats her clients with respect and demands the same from them. She is always learning and growing. In 2020 and much of 2021 she stepped up to assist with COVID response. She took the lead on organizing our contact tracing program and continues to inspire out health department nurses with her challenges, messages, and reminders of the good in the world.

The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Traeger Winners: #100-#91

Adam Owczarzak, MPA

Adam Owczarzak

City of Madison Heights, MI

Assistant to the City Manager

LinkedIn | Twitter


Enthusiastic, Dedicated, Innovative

A year ago Adam joined our City Management team as a Graduate Management Fellow. Almost immediately it became apparent that he had a calling for the local government profession. Five months later Adam was hired as the Assistant to the City Manager and he hasn’t looked back. He brings positive energy to the office everyday and has been responsible for the implementation of several major grant projects. He is responsible for stating the City’s MSHDA Neighborhood Enhancement Program and has been recognized as a high performer resulting in additional funding for the City’s residents. Adam constantly has new ideas and develops those ideas into beneficial programs. No matter how busy he is he is always willing to take on new tasks and responses to residents in a timely manner for their questions or complaints. Adam is a positive influence on our organization as a whole and has a bright future in local government! I can’t wait to see where is passion for local government takes him!!


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Lacy Lewis, MPA

Lacy Lewis

City of Irving

Management Analyst II

LinkedIn | Twitter


Passionate Strategic Determined

Lacy is so passionate! She is able to inspire both her peers near and far. She is Traeger in the since the she is always ready to jump into action and help those around her using positive approaches. She is passionate about her work and it is easy to see why, she is making a big difference in her community using strategic planning and performance measures.

Her work has a positive impact on both the staff and residents in her community because it utilizes data as a communication tool. Her research brings people together and serves as a model for other organizations. Lacy is sooo supportive and was a incredibly helpful when I was going through my graduate program. I am so proud of her and her determination to make a difference. I also love that she has been so involved in ELGL. I know that her involvement has helped me stay connected. In conclusion, she is wonderful!


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Jorge Barrera

Jorge Barrera

Eagle Pass Water Works, Texas

General Manager

Website


Proactive, Uniter, Humble

Jorge wears a lot of hats and is involved everywhere. In addition to his position as General Manager of Eagle Pass Water Works, he serves as President of the Eagle Pass School Board and Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce. He is always working hard for the benefit of the community and yet he is very humble. He is not out to get the credit. One can respect this!

In Eagle Pass, there is the city and also the county, two governmental entities that sometimes butt heads. Jorge is the gel that brings everyone to the table. Even though people have differences, he unites people to come up with solutions. Jorge is also proactive and forward-thinking. He started working for Eagle Pass Water Works System as a process engineer in 2006 and in three months became the operations manager. Now, as the General Manager, he is looking 50 years into the future to make sure the growing community has a water supply. He’s out there trying to find new sources of water. As another example, the community is growing, needs more educational institutions, and is trying to attract a 4-year university. He’s out there talking to state policy makers about our needs. Finally, Jorge looks for ways to improve and connect with others on best practices. He recently set up a meeting with leaders of the City of McAllen to pick their brains on best practices — If it wasn’t for him, no one would have put the time and effort into organizing this.

Jorge hold a B.S in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. He also serves on the Rio Grande Watermaster Advisory Committee. And has served on the Southwest Texas Junior College Engineering Advisory Committee, Member where he has helped provide role models and access to mentoring to interested engineering students.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Ozzy Arce

Ozzy Arce

City of Walnut Creek, CA

Associate Planner

LinkedIn


Inventive, Agile, Campaigner

As a Transportation Associate Planner, Ozzy Arce realizes forward-thinking approaches to keep the City of Walnut moving and its environment protected. His work as Project Manager for the City’s five-year transportation and parking demand management plan called Rethinking Mobility showed a mid-size City can adopt the visionary approaches of larger urban areas.

The Rethinking Mobility Transportation Strategic was adopted by the Walnut Creek City Council. The plan provides implementation strategies to reduce automobile trips, manage parking demand, and enhance access for those walking, biking, and using public transit.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Jimmy Stathatos

Jimmy Stathatos

City of Bedford, Texas

City Manager


Leader, Professional, Fearless

After an extensive interview process over 8 months, Jimmy Stathatos was selected as the Bedford City Manager effective 13 months ago. For years the City has been vertical stepping stone for wannabe City Managers without experience. From day one, Jimmy was the most experienced City Manager the City had ever hired. He took a chance to come over to Bedford from a bigger city with more economic resources than ours.

He came on board with a determination to help us turn around the fortunes of Bedford and was fearless in making the hard choices necessary in order to change the culture of City Hall. In his 13 months on the job, he has found millions of dollars in savings, brought in people from the outside at all levels of the organization, steered the organization towards a customer service centric approach, worked with Council better than anyone before him, and embraced a complete overhaul to how the City is going to repair streets and get control of it economic development future. He has not only met my expectations as City Manager, but has exceeded it immensely.

Jimmy Stathatos is a man of character and compassion and is the type of City Manager that everyone wants to follow. Jimmy Stathatos has brought trust back to the City of Bedford organization. No one has a bad thing to say about him, and I am proud to have him as my City Manager. You would be fool to not give him the Traeger award. lol. He is Chris Traeger except for the health consciousness thing and the good looks and he will not live to be 150.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Nathan Gregory

Nathan Gregory

Deputy Director of Human Resources – City of Fort Worth

Kind, Caring, Committed

Nathan is a Human Resources leader. He is committed to bringing HR leaders together across the DFW metroplex come together to share information and ideas about the latest Human Resources issues/topics. They also help drive the operational efforts of the North Texas LEAD organization.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Judy Drake

Judy Drake

Town of Ithaca, NY

Human Resources Manager

LinkedIn


Smart, Empathetic, Amazing

Judy is the go-to HR professional in our region. She is smart and committed to serving the people of the Town of Ithaca and the Greater Municipal Health Insurance Consortium. She is caring and works for not only our employees but also for the community at large.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Joe Dougherty

Joe Dougherty

Utah Department of Public Safety

Director of Public Affairs

LinkedIn | Twitter


Motivational, Engaged, Dedicated

Joe Dougherty is probably the most well-known public information officer (PIO) in the entire state. He trains new PIOs and has been a critical part of the Utah PIO Association. He has always made himself available to help others who are facing a communications crisis and he makes a regular effort to meet new people and engage with them. If something big happened and you needed help or guidance, Joe is the one you would want to contact.

Joe spent nearly ten years as the PIO for the Utah Division of Emergency Management. During that time, he provided public information support and coordination for a wide variety of incidents – fires, floods, and earthquakes, as well as funeral coordination for first responder funerals. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit in his last month on the job, bringing even more focus to the annual Great Utah Shakeout event held the following month. His efforts in preparing for earthquakes helped many to be ready for when this event happened.

In April 2020, Joe became the Director of Public Affairs for the Utah Department of Public Safety. Almost immediately he was temporarily reassigned to work directly with the Governor’s Office to coordinate messaging for the COVID-19 pandemic. That included planning for and writing the governor’s talking points for weekly press briefings, conducting weekly briefings for cabinet level communication directors, and crisis communication planning for the pandemic. He led the team undertaking a massive language interpretation effort. In the midst of all that, Joe also provided disaster recovery information for an earthquake, civil unrest, and a hurricane-force wind storm.

At the 2021 Utah PIO Association’s annual conference, Joe gave a presentation on “”communicating in a wicked environment.”” This detailed what was going on behind the scenes of the state’s COVID-19 task force and the many lessons learned. It was just the most recent of the many trainings and workshops he has given over the past decade.

A Funeral Response Guide for the Public Information Officer was created by Joe after providing support during several funerals for officers killed in the line of duty. This document and the support of the Utah PIO Association during these high profile events has made these types of crises more manageable.” Joe has been impressive in his constant desire to keep learning. He regularly attends training locally and nationally. Meeting him at a national government social media convention absolutely changed my life and helped me to see that I wanted to keep working in local government. Several of us have threatened to create a PIO Joe fan club.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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Jessie Brown

Jessie Brown

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Social Media Specialist

LinkedInTwitter


Empathetic, Loyal, Inventive

While Jessie is a state government employee, she is a significant influence in the lives of social media professionals at all levels of government. In her role as vice president of the Government Social Media Membership Council, Jessie is instrumental in helping to elevate the profession by openly discussing the relationship between self care and social media management, and how to prioritize your own well-being while serving as your agency’s liaison to the often rough-and-tumble digital space.

Her goal is to ensure government social media professionals are feeling — and functioning — their best when our communities need us the most. Jessie is always open to sharing guidance, ideas, and lessons learned from throughout the government social media profession, and is all around a great person to know.


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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paul russo

Paul Russo

Jersey City, NJ

City Engineer

LinkedIn | Twitter


Creative, Enthusiastic, Well groomed

Paul finds a way to turn ideas and visions into thoughtful and creative new projects. He is overseeing millions of dollars of community improvements but finding ways to do it all with both the highest quality and with limited funds. He’s the kind of leader that elected officials dream about having on the team – he just gets stuff done!


The 2021 Top 100 Influencers List is made possible by ELGL’s partnership with CivicPlus.

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