Editor’s note: This story was updated to reflect new information regarding the nomination process and to identify the selection committee chair, who is a UNC-Wilmington employee.
A public leadership group with members across the Southeast U.S. has handed an accolade to Wilmington’s city manager.
The Southeastern Conference for Public Administration (SECoPA) named Sterling Cheatham the 2014 recipient of its annual Distinguished Public Service Practitioner Award, according to a release from the city’s communications office.
“This Distinguished Public Service Practitioner Award recognizes sustained, outstanding achievement in, and contributions to, public administration and public service through applied practice in the field,” explains SECoPA’s website. “The recipient of this award must be, or have been, a practitioner with a significant and established record in public service.”
Cheatham, whose current annual salary is $181,636, became city manager in 2003. The position oversees all city departments, presents an annual budget for the city council’s consideration and crafts various policies that affect Wilmingtonians’ lives.
The chair of this year’s selection committee was Tom Barth, the Master’s of Public Administration director at UNC-Wilmington.
Barth said Wilmington Deputy City Manager Tony Caudle nominated Cheatham, who beat out four other nominees, from Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida and North Carolina.
“Mr. Cheatham’s service to the City has been characterized by collaborative, effective leadership punctuated throughout by initiatives designed to move the community forward,” Caudle wrote to Barth in a 10-page letter outlining Chetham’s various accomplishments in detail.
The letter noted the development of the city’s first-ever, resident-driven comprehensive plan; the city’s expanded outreach via social media; projects on the northern riverfront (including Riverwalk extensions); and growth of the city’s recycling program, among others.
“That leadership has been stalwart throughout periods of tremendous variation in both the economic and political climates within the community,” Caudle wrote.
The city’s release quotes SECoPA’s president, Dr. Jo Ann Ewalt, as telling Cheatham: “Your accomplishments in local government are truly inspiring. There were a number of excellent nominations for this award, and your winning nomination highlights our intent to publicize and reward the highest level of excellence in public service.”
Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said the city manager was well deserving.
Saffo praised Cheatham’s ongoing work on the redevelopment of the northern riverfront downtown, notably with the positioning of PPD’s world headquarters (an effort that involved an exchange of cash incentives for investments and job creation). The mayor also applauded Cheatham’s approach to the violent gang problem that grabbed so many headlines in 2013. Cheatham’s response included establishing “community conversations” led by various local leaders and residents on how to resolve youth gun violence. (Click here to view Cheatham’s recommended solutions.)
“He’s always forward-thinking,” said Saffo, “and out there looking for best-practice methods around the country, what we can be doing better as a city and as a community.”
Ben Brown is a news reporter at Port City Daily. Reach him at ben.b@hometownwilmington.com or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
