Futures Award honors Eveland’s community contributions
By Bert Lehman
Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland was awarded the Futures Award by the Wisconsin City/County Managers Association.
Clintonville Mayor Richard Beggs presented the award to Eveland at the July 9 city council meeting.
Beggs told the council the WCMA’s awards honor individual achievement in local government management.
The award Eveland was nominated for and won, the Futures Award, is awarded to WCMA members who are in their first five years of local government management and made a significant impact on the profession or on their community.
Eveland was nominated for the award by the city manager of Platteville.
Beggs read to the council several items from Eveland’s nomination form, highlighting the following: “One particularly notable accomplishment was Sharon’s success in gaining council approval to implement paid maternity, parental and adoption leave. Her family-friendly work in this area has garnered national attention and makes Clintonville a leader in both the public and private sectors. It takes vision, leadership, and even courage to tackle such a progressive policy in a rural small-town community. Sharon has set an example for all WCMA members with her work in this area.”
Eveland told the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette, “What really touched me about receiving this award is that you can’t self-nominate. Somebody else has to nominate you.”
Only one person wins the annual Futures Award.
“It speaks volumes about the work that I’m doing and it’s very, very affirming to have my peers recognize the work that I’m doing,” Eveland said. “There are a lot of times that I feel that I struggle every day, and I worry sometimes that I’m not making the right decision, or I worry that I’m going to do something wrong. But having that recognition from that community, it’s really validated all the work that I’ve done. And it speaks well of the community. It’s not just a reflection of me, it’s a reflection on the city as well.”