Mike Muirhead, Director of Public Works and Utilities for the City of Garden City, will receive the Mark Crisson Leadership and Managerial Excellence Award during the American Public Power Association’s National Conference in Seattle, Washington, on June 20.
The award recognizes managers at a utility, joint action agency, or state or regional association who steer their organizations to new levels of excellence, lead by example, and inspire staff to do better.
Mike has been employed with the City since 2010. During his time as Director of Public Works and Utilities, he has overseen improvements in electric reliability. He implemented a preventive maintenance plan to improve substation and line reliability, which helped the city earn a Gold Reliable Public Power Provider designation in 2016 and a Platinum designation in 2019. He spearheaded the adoption of new AMI, SCADA, and outage management systems to improve outage visibility and reduce response times.
“When Mike first arrived at our organization in 2010, he immediately began mapping out a strategic plan to improve our internal processes to accommodate economic growth and, simultaneously, raise the expectations, image and pride of the City utility worker,” said City Manager Matt Allen.
Mike is an active member of APPA, Kansas Municipal Utilities, and the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, serving as a board and executive committee member for both KMU and KMEA, including tenures as president of each. Mike volunteers to help area municipal utility managers and small-town City Administrators assess and improve their systems.
“His positive impact not only to the City’s Electric Department, but also the City organization as a whole and municipal power across Kansas will be felt for years to come,” Allen said. “He is a consummate professional and servant leader. Our elected officials and staff are excited to celebrate this prestigious national award with Mike!”
A local luncheon for family, friends, co-workers and professional colleagues from around Kansas is tentatively scheduled for July 18.
Final details will be listed in the “Meetings of Note” section of the July City Commission regular meeting agendas.