‘We’ve always done things a little differently’: Henderson officials celebrate award
Henderson city officials formally presented on Tuesday an award given to the city late last year that recognizes organizational excellence across public, private, academic and nonprofit sectors across the nation.
In October, officials with the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that Henderson was one of five recipients to earn the 2024 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, becoming the fifth municipality to win the honor since its introduction in 1988.
Speaking to several dozen attendees during a special City Council meeting on Tuesday, city manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause thanked the city’s roughly 3,000 employees for the yearslong process she said it took to win the award.
“This award is a testament to your contributions,” Garcia-Vause said.
City officials said in an October news release that organizations that apply for the award are evaluated based on their “performance against criteria that focus on resilience and long-term success, including assessing processes, key performing indicators, and more.”
For Henderson, highlights from that evaluation included a satisfaction rate among residents for city services that ranked above the 95th percentile, the news release said, as well as high community marks for fire and police services from 2010 through 2023. The city was also recognized for having what the news release said was the region’s lowest property tax rate, which ranged between 71 cents and 77 cents per $100 of property value, from fiscal year 2019 to 2023.
Mayor Michelle Romero thanked city employees and volunteers past and present. She said efforts to win the award go back more than a decade.
“With a vision to be America’s premier community, we’ve always done things a little differently and have not behaved like a typical government,” Romero said.
The award is named after former Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, who served in the Reagan administration before his death in 1987. In addition to Tuesday’s ceremony, city officials in late March were also recognized at an awards convocation in Baltimore along with other award recipients.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.
