Stafford County wins three national awards for service and programs

Stafford County won three National Association of Counties (NACo) 2024 Achievement Awards. The NACo Awards recognize outstanding government programs and services. Stafford won two awards in the Human Services category and one in the Civic Education and Public Information category.

“Having our efforts recognized by NACo is high praise indeed,” said Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chairman Meg Bohmke. “We work daily to achieve excellence on behalf of our residents, but it is certainly nice to have our peers validate our work.”

Stafford County’s Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board (R-Board) bicycle restoration program won in the Human Services category. The R-Board initiated a bicycle restoration program in October 2023. The program aims to reduce waste by providing a drop-off location for gently used bicycles that need minor repairs at the residential side of the Regional Landfill. By refurbishing and repairing bicycles that are still in good condition, the program encourages reuse and prevents them from being landfilled. The bicycle restoration program is overseen by Francesca Johnson, Recycling Manager, in partnership with Stafford Crossing Community Church who refurbishes and repairs collected bicycles before distributing them to children in need.

Stafford’s Human Resources department won for policy changes that improve efficiency in the Human Services category. Human Resources maintains several policies related to the organization and administration of Stafford County Government’s human resources and associated programs. Stafford County Leadership team members worked to identify specific policy amendments that the County Administrator could authorize. This concept was discussed with individual members of the Board of Supervisors to gauge openness to delegating their authority during these identified areas of policy amendments before bringing the program to the full Board of Supervisors for a resolution. The goal of delegating authority to the County Administrator is to create efficiency and flexibility for the County to maintain its Human Resources policies.

Stafford County Utilities, in partnership with the Community Engagement Department, won in the Human Services category for creating a superhero character that fights clogs. The utilities infrastructure is an aging system that the County is working to upgrade and maintain. Clogs from fats, oil, and grease (FOG) are a real problem that impacts operations and costs. The department initially created a superhero theme for the annual FOG campaign to increase awareness about how residents can help protect the sanitary sewer system. The main character, Captain Clog, was used on billboards, social media posts, and videos for the FOG campaign. Since then, he has become a vehicle to communicate various awareness and outreach topics. Two comic books have been created for outreach editions—the first about water and wastewater treatment processes and the second about water conservation.