The mayor of Thomson is being recognized for his public service.
Bob Knox will be receiving a 2004 Georgia Excellence in Public Service award during a ceremony in Atlanta on Sept. 9.
"It feels very good," he said Tuesday, adding he was a runner-up for the award last year. "It's not like it was something I was unfamiliar with, but I was very surprised."
Mr. Knox has been Thom-son's mayor for 26 years and counts the relationships he's helped foster between local governments as his proudest accomplishment.
"I really think that is the main thing," he said. "It takes that to make local government really work like it ought to and make the dollars go as far as they can go."
The Georgia Excellence in Public Service awards are in their second year. The program is a public-private partnership between the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute and GeorgiaTrend magazine, in cooperation with the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association.
Public service contributions of officials from across Georgia are recognized in five categories (state official, county elected, county appointed, city elected, city appointed), according to a press release announcing Mr. Knox's award.
Winners were chosen from a pool of nominations submitted by citizens and officials from communities throughout the state. Mr. Knox received the award in the city elected category. As part of the award, a photo of Mr. Knox is on the cover of the September issue of GeorgiaTrend magazine and an article about the mayor is inside.
"The strength of our democracy is directly tied to the active involvement of citizens and to leaders who go beyond the call of duty to improve their communities," said Jim Ledbetter, Vinson Institute director, in the release. "Mayor Knox has displayed excellence in public service throughout his career. We hope that by spotlighting these outstanding individuals that we help foster a continued commitment to public service in our current workforce, while also bringing attention to public service as a career option vital to our state's future."
Other recipients for 2004 include: Lonice Barrett (state official), past commissioner, Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Larry Hanson (city appointed), manager, City of Valdosta; F. Wayne Hill (county elected), chairman, board of commissioners, Gwinnett County; and David Hankerson (county appointed), manager, Cobb County.
