Michigan Local Government Management Association

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John M. Patriarche Distinguished Service Award

The distinguished service award is the highest honor the Association bestows. It honors past members of the Michigan Local Government Management Association who have been members of the Association for a significant number of years. Those honored have worked consistently and effectively to foster representative democracy by enhancing the effectiveness of local elected officials through innovative programs, projects, and by consistency in providing excellence in character and professionalism.

A person can only be eligible for nomination if he/she has been retired or deceased for at least three years before nomination. Also, the nominee must have been a member of MLGMA for a significant number of years.

Current Recipient:

Frankenmuth City Manager Charles Graham was awarded the 2012 Patriarch Colloquium Award at the Michigan Municipal League’s annual conference on Mackinac Island. Graham has spent a lifetime in the municipal management professional starting in Phoenix, Arizona, and then Pueblo, Colorado, before landing in Frankenmuth, Michigan, 32 years ago where he continues to faithfully serve the community. Graham’s long list of accomplishments include coordinating the Thumb Nuts managers group of Michigan’s thumb area managers, serving multiple terms on the Michigan Municipal League’s Insurance Pool Board, and being a member of the International City Managers Association since 1970. During his tenure at Frankenmuth for the past 32 years, city staff turnover has been minimal, budgets have been kept in the black and efficiency is a normal expectation.

Past Recipients:

John M Patriarche - 1992

Edward H. Potthoff, Jr. - 1994

Fred. H. Tholen, Jr. - 1995

Clifford R. Miles - 1997

Robert S. Kenning - 2000

Frank A. Gerstenecker - 2001

William J. Baldridge - 2002

Richard. A Huebler - 2004

Thomas W. Kressbach - 2005

William M. Costick - 2006

Robert Hamilton - 2007

Karl Tomion - 2008

Kurt Kimball - 2009

Theodore Staton - 2010

Mark Wollenweber - 2011
Charles Graham - 2012