City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: OCTOBER 22, 2024
FROM: CITY CLERK WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: CITY SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATION PROCESS AND CRITERIA
ISSUE:
Amend the nomination process and criteria for the City Spirit Award to limit nominations to City of Riverside residents only, with each Mayor and Councilmember allowed to nominate one person.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Mayor’s Nominating and Screening Committee recommends that the City Council amend the nomination process and criteria for the City Spirit Award limiting nominations to City of Riverside residents only and to one nominee each from the Mayor and Councilmembers.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
On August 6, 2024, the Mayor’s Nominating and Screening Committee, with the Mayor and Members Falcone, Perry, and Conder present, unanimously recommended that City Spirit Award nominations be limited to only City of Riverside residents. Additionally, no more than one nomination each from the Mayor and City Councilmembers is allowed.
BACKGROUND:
On March 28, 1995, the City Council established an annual City Spirit Award to honor a community member with a City Spirit Award for their extraordinary deeds and community spirit, good citizenship, and dedication to enhancing the quality of life in the City.
The City Spirit Award recipient was selected by the Mayor's Nominating and Screening Committee (Committee) annually through 2016.
The process slightly changed in 2017, when the Committee began forwarding their nominee recommendation(s) to the City Council for selection and approval.
Since January 2023, nominations have been limited to no more than three nominees per Councilmember and the Mayor, accompanied by a biography for their nominees to be published with the agenda for the Committee consideration. The Committee would then recommend one but no more than three nominees to the City Council to select one community member or group City Spirit Award – Page 2
as the recipient of the City Spirit Award.
Timeline and Requirements for City Spirit Award Nominations:
February 1st March April May
Deadline for
submission of
nominees including a
biography
Mayor’s Nominating
and Screening
Committee shall
review nominees for
recommendation to
City Council.
City Council
approves City Spirit
Award recipient(s).
City Council presents
award City Spirit
Award to recipient(s)
DISCUSSION
The Committee recommends amending the nomination process and criteria for the City Spirit Award. This includes a limitation on the number of nominations, allowing only one nomination each from the Mayor and City Councilmembers, and restricting nominations to City of Riverside residents.
To streamline the award nomination process, the Mayor and City Councilmembers should review and narrow down their lists of nominees to just one nominee for each Councilmember and the Mayor before submitting to the Committee. Although many individuals may be deserving of such an honor, only one person can receive the award each year. Having shorter lists of nominations will make the process more efficient.
Riverside has are several city awards in Riverside, some of which are meant for residents, while others are open to anyone. The City Spirit Award should honor residents. At the same time, other prestigious awards like Citizen of the Year, Frank Miller Civic Achievement Award, and Innovation Award- can recognize people who don’t live in Riverside but have still made a difference in the city.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
The selection of a community member for consideration by the City Council for the City Spirit Award contributes to Strategic Plan Priority #5 – High Performing Government and Goal 5.3 - Enhance communication and collaboration with community members to improve transparency, build public trust, and encourage shared decision-making.
This item aligns with the 5 Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
1. Community Trust – The selection process for a City Spirit Award recipient is transparent and promotes civic engagement by recognizing community members whose activities and actions serve the public interest, benefit the City’s diverse populations, and result in greater public good.
2. Equity – The City Spirit Award promotes equity as it is a citywide honor and nominees may be chosen from any and all Wards. The positive impact of the nominees’ extraordinary deeds and community spirit, good citizenship, and dedication to enhancing the quality of life in the City benefit the entire community.
City Spirit Award – Page 3
3. Fiscal Responsibility – This item is neutral toward this Cross-Cutting Thread.
4. Innovation – The City Spirit Award promotes recognition of community members whose contribution includes building collaborative partnerships and embracing adaptive processes to meet the community changing needs and preparing for the future.
5. Sustainability and Resiliency – The City Spirit Award promotes recognition of community members’ contribution to the community’s needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future and ensuring the City’s capacity to persevere, adapt and grow during good and difficult times alike.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Prepared by:
_____________________________
PATRICIA LOCK DAWSON, Chair
Mayor's Nominating and Screening Committee