U.S. and Canada celebrate National Public Works Week

This week, May 20-26, marks the 47th annual National Public Works Week (NPWW), a celebration of the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain public infrastructure and services. The American Public Works Association (APWA) instituted NPWW in 1960 to call attention to the importance of public works in community life.

As a cornerstone of NPWW, APWA selects a top 10 list of exceptional public works professionals. The program has identified more than 400 men and women who APWA says reflect the highest standards of professional conduct for public works officials. The honorees have been recognized for discharging critical responsibilities in connection to the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of major public works projects or activities in large and small municipalities throughout North America. Often their accomplishments are particularly noteworthy in relation to the limited manpower and financial resources available to them, APWA says.

The 2007 Top 10 Public Works Leaders of the Year include the following:
• John M. Bernal, P.E., deputy county administrator of public works, Pima County, Ariz.;
• Lawrence E. Bombara, superintendent of public works, Uxbridge, Mass.;
• Frank DeCelles, public works director, Plantation, Fla.;
• H. Reed Fowler, Jr., director of public works, Newport News, Va.;
• Bret Hodne, superintendent of public works, West Des Moines, Iowa;
• Joseph C. Johnson, P.E., director of public works, Leawood, Kan.;
• Stuart A. Moring, P.E., director of public works, Roswell, Ga.;
• William L. Pugh, public works director, Tacoma, Wash.;
• Peter W. Steblin, P.Eng., general manager of environmental & engineering services and city engineer, London, Ont., Canada; and
• Gary G. Warren, director of airside development, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Minneapolis.

Each Top 10 Public Works Leader will be recognized at a local event and during an awards ceremony as part of APWA’s International Congress and Exposition in San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 9-12. See the top 10 recipients from 1960 to 2005 on the APWA’s National Awards Program web page. More information about National Public Works Week is available at www.apwa.net/npww.