Mayor's Office

Continuing our bimonthly tradition, last week we celebrated outstanding City of Madison employees who live and breathe the City’s mission, vision and values. Not only that, they go above and beyond to help their teams, other departments and residents. They are true examples of what #TeamCity represents.

These employees were selected from a large pool of candidates that were nominated by their peers, supervisors, residents and everything in between. It is always inspiring to learn about the quality of work they all do. It makes me proud to be working with all of them.

The #TeamCity Administration Award goes to Tanya Anderson. Tanya is a Digital Media Specialist at IT. Her duties involve operating and maintaining the digital asset databases to support the City’s virtual government meetings, livestreams and broadcasts. She also produces shows, podcasts and videos for the City. Tanya’s work revolves around adaptability, accessibility and equity as she facilitates public engagement in a manner that is efficient and accessible for all. Since the pandemic, we’ve all started doing virtual meetings, just like this event. This is possible thanks to Tanya’s work. By vetting the different platforms, she helped the City settle on our current solution. This was a heavy lift as there are many legal considerations when selecting a provider. Tanya’s ran every possible scenario where a virtual meeting could be used and tested every detail to ensure that Zoom would be the best solution.. Her work doesn’t stop there. She will go out of her way to “create a supportive, open minded and positive work environment for those around her.” Tanya was nominated by Digital Media Specialist Stephan Precourt.

The #TeamCity Community Service & Support Award goes to Phil Gadke. Phil is an Operations Manager at Metro. He manages several of Metro’s programs including operator training, the paratransit program and others. Phil evaluates bus operator training, performance and collision investigation. However, his duties go well beyond that. In one instance there was a bus issue, but Phil was on vacation. He received the email and made sure another supervisor went to the location to see the issue firsthand. Upon his return, he reached back to ensure the problem was taken care of, which it was. On a separate instance, a crossing guard witnessed a bus clip a car mirror. The crossing guard left a note on the vehicle, and Phil reached out to the Crossing Guard Supervisor to get the crossing guard’s contact information and information about the event. He obtained a video of the incident for more clarity. Phil is always willing to help. His wealth of knowledge, skills and responsiveness earned him this award. Phil was nominated by Crossing Guard Supervisor Virginia Kravik.

The #TeamCity Public Health & Safety Award goes to Cheryl Galbraith-Francis. Cheryl is a Crossing Guard at Traffic Engineering. As a Crossing Guard, you’ll see Cheryl helping children and families safely cross the street to go to and from school. This can be a very challenging job, especially during the first days of school. During her shift earlier this year at Frank Allis Elementary School, Cheryl noticed a kindergarten student crying on the sidewalk. Teachers were trying to help the young boy, but nothing worked. One thing she also noticed was that the child spoke mainly Spanish. Although Cheryl is not bilingual, she approached the child, showed him the stop sign and kindly asked if he would like to cross with her and “be the crossing guard”. The child took her hand and, along with the teacher, they crossed the street and went to school. Cheryl’s compassion, kindness and inclusiveness have made her a #TeamCity Award winner. Cheryl was nominated by Traffic Engineer Yang Tao, Pedestrian Bicycle Administrator Renee Callaway and Crossing Guard Supervisor Virginia Kravik.

The #TeamCity Public Works & Land Use Award goes to Chad Hughes. Chad is a General Parks Supervisor at the Parks Department on the west side. His main responsibilities revolve around the maintenance of the grounds, athletic fields, playgrounds, and other areas within the parks. While overseeing his staff, planning, finding efficiencies, and leading change efforts, he helps residents have the best experience possible when they visit City parks. In addition to being the West Parks Supervisor, he is also acting as interim Central Parks Supervisor. This increases the geographical size of his territory, number of staff and parks to manage. This is a huge effort since Parks has experienced high turnover, and Chad also led the Parks Operations seasonal hiring with Human Resources. Not to mention his volunteer work as a member of the Parks Racial Equity Team. All of this, without sacrificing the quality of the parks he manages. Great job juggling all of these duties and keeping our west side parks – and central parks – in great shape for all of us to enjoy. Chad was nominated by Mall Concourse Foreperson Mark Kiesow.

The #TeamCity Mayor’s Choice Award goes to Mike Cechvala. Mike is a Transportation Planner at the Transportation Division. Mike’s duties include managing the Metro Transit Network Redesign Project and co-managing Madison’s East-West BRT project. Both of these projects require the engagement of multiple stakeholders in decisions that are going to be controversial. To ensure that people are aware of the changes and give them a say, Mike has pursued under-represented communities to inform them of the change, and listened to community stakeholders. He also worked through numerous documents and forms required by the funding providers, and interacted with City agencies to ensure all alternatives were explored, while resolving project details. Given the impact of these two projects, his diligence and community outreach have been key. Mike, during his more than 10 years working for the City, has actively advocated for the implementation of the BRT. Thanks to his hard work, we are getting closer to getting a BRT in the City. Mike was nominated by the Director of Transportation Thomas Lynch.

And the second #TeamCity Mayor’s Choice Award goes to David Coy. David is Fleet’s data analyst and the wizard behind the curtain for the Team City ceremonies. David has been instrumental in transforming Fleet’s operations to be more data-driven, creating dashboards and processes to track and inform every aspect of their work. Just one example is the work he did to develop a GPS program for Public Works vehicles. He’s also helped move our entire city to be data-driven, working across agencies to build capacity and integrate data into decision making – particularly via MAC. David was part of the team that planned our successful sustainable transportation expos, highlighting the City’s work, but also spreading the word about low-carbon vehicle options. David helped the Clerk’s office improve the logistics of moving election equipment to and from polling places in a way that reduced costs and effort. And of course, David helped invent, improve and implement the Team City awards to recognize the good work City staff do every day. Today, we want to recognize him for his contributions to making the city of Madison a better place.

Congratulations to all and a hearty thank you for all the work they do! The City is a great place to live and work thanks to people like them.