March 11th, 2022 - 11th Annual Public Official of the Year Luncheon

Blog Layout

NEW RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 28, 2022

11th Annual Public Officials of the Year Luncheon to Honor Distinguished Elected Officials in the Houston

HOUSTON – On March 11, the University of Houston Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program will honor five elected officials for their decades-long influence on the ideals of public service in the greater Houston metropolitan area.

“These officials exhibit qualities consistent with those of the MPA Program: trust, accountability, performance, ethical decision-making and crossing jurisdictional boundaries to solve problems. We are honored to have them recognized as distinguished public officials,” Director James Thurmond said.

Each year, the MPA Program recognizes elected officials at the Public Official of the Year luncheon. These local changemakers exemplify strength in ethical decision making; a commitment to the welfare of citizenry by reaching beyond personal, professional and political motives; and an innate ability to encourage and maintain supportive relationships across jurisdictional boundaries.

The 2022 honorees are as follows:

MPA Pioneer of Service Award Winner: Jack Cagle is the county commissioner of Harris County. He has spent 30 years serving the residents of Harris County as an attorney, an elected judge and now as county commissioner in his third term. As judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 1, he earned high ratings from the Houston Bar Association and received numerous awards from legal, business, political and community groups. He was elected by his peers to be president of the Texas Association of County Court at Law Judges.
Public Official of the Year Recipient: John Baumgartner serves as city manager of League City where he is responsible for city operations per policies set by the City Council. With over 30 years of local government experience in Texas, Baumgartner is an innovative leader with a track record of transparency, collaboration and the ability to get things done. He was designated as a national Public Works Leadership Fellow by the American Public Works Association and as a credentialed manager by the International City/County Management Association. He is a Texas registered professional engineer and has a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Idaho.
Public Official of the Year Recipient: Carol Ellinger Haddock serves as director of public works at City of Houston: As the director of the largest American Public Works Association accredited agency in the nation, Haddock has led almost 4,000 employees in water and wastewater systems, street and storm drainage systems and regulation of development since 2017. Under her direction, Houston Public Works has moved forward from Hurricane Harvey, set records for treatment of drinking water, reduced environmental impacts in both the wastewater and stormwater systems, maintained a next-business-day pothole repair program and supported more than $6 billion in development. She is a Texas registered professional engineer with a degree in civil engineering from Rice University and an MPA from the University of Houston.
Public Official of the Year Recipient: Mike Loftin serves as assistant city manager for finance at City of Galveston. In his 48-year career, Loftin has served five cities: Houston, Shreveport, Pasadena, League City and Galveston. He has helped the city pass a bond election, mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19, settle a major Hurricane Ike lawsuit and strengthen its pension funds and reserves. He began in 1974 as an intern with Houston’s city controller, Leonel J. Castillo. He served as Houston’s assistant director for finance under Mayor Kathryn J. Whitmire. He developed innovative sales tax models that explain the most volatile of all revenue sources. He has a degree in political science and an MPA from the University of Houston. He also taught the public budgeting class in UH’s MPA program for 27 years.
Public Official of the Year Recipient: Tim Welch serves as district EMS chief of Brazoria County Emergency Services District No. 3. Welch began his EMS career as a volunteer with Sweeny VFD in 1986 then became a volunteer with Angleton Area Emergency Medical Corps. He is a National Registered Paramedic, certified flight paramedic and a certified medical transport executive with over 35 years of experience in EMS and 29 years of experience in the air medical industry. He has volunteered and worked for several EMS agencies in the greater Houston area, served as a committee member for the Texas Department of Health Services, Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council, Air Medical Committee and as a VP for the National Flight Paramedics’ Association. He is a former senior flight paramedic and clinical educator for Memorial Hermann Life Flight and a former program manager for Air Medical Group Holdings, the largest independent air medical transport provider in the United States.

The 11th annual Public Officials of the Year Luncheon is open to the public and will take place in the University of Houston Student Center South Friday, March 11 beginning at 11:45 a.m. This year’s luncheon is made possible through the generous support by Platinum Sponsors Hawes & Associates and David Hawes, Gold Sponsor CobbFendley LLP and Networking Mixer Sponsor Olson and Olson LLP.

Individual registration and table sponsorships for the luncheon can be found at uh.edu/class/mpa. Contact MPA Program Director James Thurmond for additional information at jhthurmond@uh.edu.

Please join the University of Houston Master of Public Administration Program on Friday, March 11, 2022 at the University of Houston Student Center Houston Room.

Registration and Networking Mixer: 11:00-11:45 am

Lunch and Awards: 12:00-1:30pm