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Politics & Government

City receives Patriot Award

Several other honors were presented at Tuesday's city council meeting

Tuesday's regular City Council Meeting had more than the usual amount of awards and recognitions on the agenda. 

Patriot Award

The city of Eagan and the Eagan police department each received a Patriot Award from the United States Department of Defense. 

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The award was presented by Jim Sullivan, executive director of the Minnesota Committee for Employers Supportive of Guard and Reserve Personnel.

Eagan was nominated for the award by Eagan police officer Chad Clausen. Clausen, who was hired as a police officer in July 2010, was deployed to the Middle East with his National Guard unit in May of this year. 

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In his nomination letter, Clausen wrote ,"The city of Eagan and the Eagan Police Department . . . have gone out of their way to share the burden of my deployment. Many of my benefits are continued and (I) also receive differential pay, (because) I earn less money while serving on active duty."

Clausen went on to say that Police Chief James McDonald assigned an officer to keep him informed about what's happening in the department during his absence. The department also has reached out to support Clausen's wife.

Clausen ended his letter saying "how fortunate I am to work for the Eagan Police Department."

In accepting the city's award on behalf of the City Council, Mayor Mike Maguire said "the whole council didn't hesitate for a second in stepping up and supporting our troops in Chad."

Maguire also expressed his hope that "employers in Eagan who are seeing this meeting can take from the example of how we've worked with Officer Clausen and his family and do the same themselves in their own workplaces. We think it's very important here in Eagan to support our troops and we thought on the council it was very important to walk that talk.  And so we hope that other employers will do the same and take that example."

E-TV wins again

The Eagan Television (E-TV) history video produced for the city's 150th anniversary continues to garner awards. Having previously received two regional Emmys, Communications Director Tom Garrison announced that the video also recently won a Northern Lights Award in the Informational Video category from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators. 

The same video also received a Best In Show award, naming it the best communications piece of the year, regardless of medium. 

E-TV also won an award of merit for a video promoting an old fashioned holiday event at Holz Farm.

Financial reporting

The city ended the year under budget in expenses and over budget in revenue, according to Matt Meyer from accounting firm Kern DeWenter Viere, Ltd. And for the 27th consecutive year, the city received a Certificate of Acheivement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the National Government Finance Office Association.

Thanks, Wayne

In what Maguire referred to as the most important recognition of the evening, 31-year city employee Wayne Beckman was honored for his retirement and thanked for his years of service.

"Wayne is much like a lot of employees here in Eagan," Maguire said. "They are inordinately committed to this organization."

The entire meeting is available for viewing on Eagan Webcast Central

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