Doug Bartosh, center, receives the Gabe Zimmerman Civic Engagement award.
This award is for non-elected public servants. Paul Luna, left, President and CEO
of te Helios Education Foundation, and Jacob Moore,
Vice Chair of the
Selection Committee, presented the award.
MY TURN by Diane Joens, Mayor of Cottonwood
Gabe Zimmerman was the director of community outreach for
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He handled issues for the congresswoman in Tucson
and Sierra Vista, organizing many public events. With a master's degree in
social work, he cared passionately about helping people. Gabe was shot and died
Jan. 8, 2011 outside a Tucson supermarket during a Congress on Your Corner
meeting. Congresswoman Giffords was gravely injured.
"It was my great honor to nominate Cottonwood City Manager
Doug Bartosh for a statewide competition created in Gabe's honor that
recognizes non-elected public servants," said Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens.
She nominated him for the Civic Engagement Award. Writing separate nominations
were County Attorney Sheila Polk, Executive Assistant to the City Manager Kyla
Allen, President of the Prescott Jewish Foundation David Hess, and Executive
Director of Community Counts and MATForce Merilee Fowler.
Doug Bartosh receives the Gabe Zimmerman Award with, from left, Gabe Zimmerman's mother, Emily Nottingham, Executive Director of Community County Merilee Fowler, Executive Assistant to the Cottonwood City Manager Kyla allen, Doug, Gabe's father Ross, and Mayor Diane Joens.
In the book Gabby: A
story of Courage and Hope by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly, the authors
talk about Gabe, relating that he had cheerfully organized the Congress on Your
Corner event. Gabe had a contagious devotion to public service. Rep. Giffords
really admired him and appreciated the work he did for her constituents. Had
Gabe lived, the book says, he would have continued to contribute to the world
in meaningful ways.
Mayor Joens said, "I wrote my nomination because I
thought Doug Bartosh, Cottonwood’s City Manager, has many of Gabe’s
professional and personal qualities. He is adept at communicating with
citizens, his employees, and his city council. He always has time to sit down
and talk with anyone about anything. Whether it is working with Prevent Child
Abuse, MATForce, or What You Do Matters:
Lessons from the Holocaust, he is a visionary."
Nurturing his personal life, Doug is a devoted family man,
married for 40 years to Diana, and dotes on their two-year-old granddaughter. Doug
and his granddaughter even run together—one on two feet and the other in a
stroller, "Although she is ready to take off on her own two feet soon,"
he said.
Doug Bartosh with son, Josh, and wife Diana.
Doug has worked hard to create good communications with the
residents in Cottonwood, the Verde Valley and Yavapai County. He promotes
working on a regional basis. He is amazingly responsive to residents—a number
one priority during the work day. With support of the council, he laid the
groundwork to have city council meetings televised, created an Inside
Cottonwood television show, and initiated a column, Just the Facts, all in an
effort to better communicate with community members.
He is the founder and a leader in the Verde Valley Wine
Consortium that has worked to make Cottonwood a leader in the wine industry. He
worked to bring the wine industry to Old Town Cottonwood and has played a major
role in making our city a tourist destination. He is a key leader in being
selected for a Five Communities grant and has brought Cottonwood state
recognition as a progressive city. Before Doug became City Manager, tourists
always heard about Sedona or Jerome. Now tourists realize Cottonwood is in the
middle, and there’s a lot to do here. His leadership has assisted with boosting
city revenues in difficult economic times, and he works under the direction of
the mayor and city council to provide a great quality of life and excellent
services to the residents of the area.
Doug has promoted transparency in government at every level.
At the request of the mayor, he upgraded
the city's Web site. He worked with staff to create a transparency page for the
city's financial disclosure to residents. A Facebook page has been created to
better communicate with citizens and encourage civic engagement. There is a
tremendous amount of information available to the public from the City of
Cottonwood. A citywide reorganization made a big difference and the public's
interest is much better served. Doug worked with the Northern Arizona Council
of Governments, the city council and economic development director to bring the
Business Assistance Center to Cottonwood, encouraging business development in
Cottonwood and the Verde Valley.
Following policies set by the Cottonwood City Council, Doug effectively
managed the city through the worst recession in recent history without laying
off any employees, even while freezing 12 positions. He has developed
recognition for the city as a national, state, and county leader in substance
abuse prevention. Cottonwood was the first city in the state to put
pseudoephedrine--a product used for making methamphetamine--behind the counter.
Cottonwood was the first city to ban bath salts. The city's part one crimes
have been reduced more than 45 percent through these efforts.
On behalf of the city council and area residents, he
successfully directed the construction and opening of a beautiful recreation
center that is thoroughly enjoyed by community residents, further encouraging
healthy lifestyles for Cottonwood and Verde Valley residents.
Doug Bartosh with Mayor Diane Joens, left, and City Council Member Jesse Dowling,
Vice Mayor Karen Pfeifer, and Council Member Linda Norman.
Doug is a leader and educator in a program called "What
You Do Matters: A Lesson from the Holocaust." According to The Days of Remembrance, "The
Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and
murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its
collaborators. Other victims included some 200,000 Roma (Gypsies) and at least
200,000 mentally or physically disabled patients." This was called the
Euthanasia Program. Doug teaches this class to all Yavapai County law
enforcement agencies. They learn exactly how the police in Nazi-era Germany came
to kill so many residents in their communities.
The course reminds each and every criminal justice
professional that their true role is to uphold the U.S. Constitution and
enforce individual rights and liberties for everyone. The training is a
profound, thought-provoking examination of what can happen when a person in
authority starts down the slippery slope of small changes that enables and
justifies—in their minds—wrongful acts. This is what happened in the Holocaust.
Because of his dedication to this cause, we have education and hope that
something this devastating to community and individual lives will never happen
again. Doug lives life with great integrity and conviction.
With support from the Zimmerman family, The Center for the
Future of Arizona created the Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Awards to recognize
the finest non-elected public employees at all levels of government in Arizona.
"These exemplary public servants represent the spirit
of service to the public by which Gabe Zimmerman lived his life," Dr.
Lattie Coor, chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona, said.
"They represent the best of the more than 100,000 professional public
servants working at all levels of Arizona government."
Winners of the Gabe Zimmerman awards were honored at the
League of Arizona Cities and Towns Annual Meeting on Aug. 30. Nominees were
judged on their achievements, such as how they've made a profound difference in
improving service to the public, changed operations to better service the
public, upheld the public interest with integrity and conviction, and their
legacy contribution of lasting significance to Arizona citizens.
David Byers,
director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for the Arizona Supreme
Court, received the Leadership award. Michael Hemesath, director of public
works for the City of Sierra Vista, received the Innovation award.
The 2012 awards were sponsored by the Center for the Future
of Arizona in cooperation with the County Supervisors Association of Arizona,
the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., and the League of Arizona Cities and
Towns.
In the closing paragraph of her nomination of Doug Bartosh for
the Gabe Zimmerman Public Service Awards, Mayor Joens said, "Doug is an
amazing leader and community servant. Just like Gabe Zimmerman, he is an
accomplished communicator. Like Gabe Zimmerman, Cottonwood City Manager Doug
Bartosh has a contagious devotion to public service and is adept at communicating
with community members, employees and the city council. He has made our
community better, and his actions, with integrity, reflect the same principled
behaviors that Gabe Zimmerman exhibited in his service to the citizens of Congresswoman
Giffords' district. Gabe Zimmerman was engaged to be married. Obviously, given
the chance, he would have made a good family man. Doug Bartosh has shown
devotion to his family for more than 40 years. Please consider Doug Bartosh for
this award. I can't think of anyone in the state of Arizona who more deserves
this recognition."
Mayor Diane Joens
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