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PRESIDENT’S AWARD OF DISTINCTION



2022 President's Award of Distinction Recipient

Debbie Burke, MMC

City of Moses Lake City Clerk

Debbie has been a member of WMCA since 2005. She has been active on many WMCA Committees, including Bylaws, Conference Planning, and was the Chair of the Clerks Handbook Update Committee. Debbie also served on the Executive Committee from 2010 – 2017, including a term as President in 2015.

The City Manager of Moses Lake described Debbie as an excellent communicator who is always willing to take on a leadership role. She consistently goes above and beyond her  regular duties in identifying the needs of the City, and is willing to take on whatever is needed for the benefit of the City, even when that means an increase to her already full workload as Administrative Services Manager.

Debbie took on the development of the City’s Continuity of Operations Plan, which was fresh in everyone’s mind as a result of altered operations during COVID. She also took a leadership role in the update of the City’s Council Rules of Procedure, and worked with the Human Resources Department to develop a new Employee Handbook. When COVID shut down the Municipal Court, Debbie spearheaded the effort to revise and update the City’s agreement for services with the County in order to ensure that the City’s Municipal Court services could resume.

Moses Lake’s City Attorney says this about Debbie: “Debbie has been able to accomplish a tremendous amount of work for the  City because of her amazing work ethic, task-oriented drive, ability to identify, prioritize, and organize the work of her department, and her dedication to the City and her work. She has deservedly earned the nicknames “energizer bunny” and “bird dog.”

When she’s not working hard for her jurisdiction, Debbie volunteers with two Sister City Groups and is currently training to be a volunteer with the Grant County Fire District.

Congratulations and thank you, Debbie, for your service to WMCA, your City, and your Community!

GUIDELINES & CRITERIA

Nominations for 2023 are due by:

Friday, January 27th, 2023

Nomination Form

Municipal Clerks are the hub of local government and play a critical role in their communities yet often times, we look "outside" ourselves for acknowledgement and recognition.  Mayors, City Managers/Administrators and Agency Executives may not fully understand the work that municipal clerks do or the challenges we face each day.  They also do not know the contributions we make to our professional association as well as we do.

Therefore, WMCA asks you to look within our peer group and our membership and nominate a municipal clerk who you know deserves recognition.

The President’s Award of Distinction is awarded to a WMCA member who has performed exceptionally in the workplace, made significant contributions as a WMCA committee member or performed exceptional work for WMCA. Nominations for this award are accepted only from WMCA active members.

Guidelines:

  1. Any WMCA member or board member may submit a confidential nomination to the President.
  2. The President shall select a recipient for the “Award of Distinction” from the membership of WMCA. There may be years in which there are no outstanding nominees. The decision of the President is final.
  3. Recognition will be at the annual conference and will include presentation of a plaque and complimentary registration to a WMCA Academy or Athenian Dialogue in the following year. The registration is not transferable, and can only be used by the award winner.

Criteria:

  1. Any WMCA member in good standing is eligible, with the exception of the President, President Elect, Vice President, and Immediate Past President. Member in good standing means an active, paid member.
  2. The nominee must have made an outstanding contribution to their organization or performed outstanding service to WMCA during the past year unless submitting for the Lifetime Achievement category.
  3. Areas of nomination may include but are not limited to the following categories:
                    • Leadership                                                         
                    • WMCA Committee Work
                    • Lifetime Achievement
                    • WMCA Programs or Education Development
                    • Other (Please describe)

Past Recipients











































Year

Recipient

Jurisdiction

1989

Karen Pfau

Benton City 

1990

Bev Garvey

Prosser

1999

Karen Smith

Linda Mead

Marilyn Peterson

Benton City

Wapato

Renton

2000

Sandy Chase

Edmonds

2001

Bob Baker

Tukwila

2002

Christine Eggers

JoAnne Trudel

Mercer Island

Bothell

2003

Norma Wilds

Brier

2004

Kammy Hill

Peggy Hagen

Diane Houston-Foss

Walla Walla

Tekoa

Ocean Shores

2005

Kammy Hill

Danielle Stafford

Jan Roegner

Walla Walla

Algona

Burien

2006

Rick Rosenbladt

Karen Roberts

Fircrest

Yakima

2007

Irvalene Moni

Maple Valley

2008

Sheryle Wyatt

Kammy Hill

Kathryn Bratcher

Tumwater

Walla Walla

Snohomish County

2009

Becky Upton

Paula Swisher

Port Angeles

Brier

2010

Alice Attwood

Tonasket

2011

Bobbie Usselman

Sequim

2012

Anita Palacios

Grandview

2013

None Awarded


2014

Molly Towslee

Gig Harbor

2015

Debbie Jermann

C-Tran

2016

Mary Bower

Clallam Transit

2017

Darla Reese

Granite Falls

2018

Jodi Wycoff

Duvall

2019

Lisa Niessl

Tamara Gunter

College Place

Battle Ground

2020

Gina Anderson

City of Woodland

2021Jodee Schwinn City of Seattle
2022Debbie BurkeCity of Moses Lake 
2023Terri Wright City of Kennewick
 Paula SwisherCity of Brier










































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