Saturday, July 27, 2024
AZLE — During the Azle City Council’s first May meeting, the council and mayor recognized members of the community critical in maintaining the services residents use every day. Public servants and city employees stood and were recognized for the contributions they have made to the city.
Mayor Alan Brundrett, reading from a proclamation, recognized May 5–11 as National Public Service Recognition Week. After reading, Brundrett also addressed city employees personally and thanked them for what they do.
“It says here how many groups and departments we have here in the city that make it go round,” Brundrett said. “So, a lot of those guys are behind the scenes making sure that we’ve got clean water and streets that are able to be driven on and I do think we have some of the better streets in the cities no matter what people say. If you go drive around in Fort Worth or something you’d be like ‘oh yeah, our streets aren’t that bad.’ I just want to take this time to thank everybody, especially the ones that are behind the scenes and don’t get the recognition they deserve for keeping everything going. They’re up when it’s 5 degrees outside in the snow and ice still making the water, treating the sewer, paving the streets and things like that. They all do a good job and I just want to thank them.”
Brundrett also announced Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week during the meeting. Falling on May 15 and the week of May 12–18 respectively, these days of celebration were established by Congress and President John F. Kennedy in 1962 to pay recognition to law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty for the protection of others. It also acts as an opportunity for communities and individuals to thank the officers currently serving their jurisdictions and elsewhere.
“Again, just thank you guys for working day in and day out, holidays, and missing kids’ stuff,” Brundrett said. “We appreciate the dedication that you guys have, too.”
The mayor also took the time to recognize National Public Works Week and Emergency Medical Services Week in advance during this juncture.
Employees from Azle’s transportation, water supply, water treatment and public waste departments stood and were recognized by proclamation in front of the city council for their efforts in protecting the health, safety and quality of life of the Azle community. These individuals will be celebrated with a week of their own May 19-25.
“So, these are the guys that are really behind the scenes that keep the city going,” Brundrett said. “They make the toilet flush when you push the little handle and the water come out when you turn the knob on your faucet and maintain the streets and everything. They don’t get the credit for what they do. They’re working sometimes 24 hours a day, getting called out in the middle of the night sometimes to fix things and working in the freez(ing temperatures). We appreciate it because you’re always hidden in the back somewhere but we appreciate you and thank you for what you do.”
This year is the 50th anniversary of the first National Emergency Medical Services Week, celebrated May 19-25. This year’s theme for the occasion is, “honoring our past, forging our future.” The mayor also thanked Azle’s EMS workers for the thousands of hours of specialized training they’ve had to endure in order to keep community members safe.
“Again, these guys are here no matter what the weather, what the day, kids, concerts, games, you name it, to take care of our people and make sure that they survive hopefully and make it to the hospital,” Brundrett said. “They do a really good job of getting that immediate care and increasing that survival rate. They do a really good job and they’re all firefighters, also.”
The mayor called on Azle’s citizens to celebrate and thank all mentioned groups and city employees during the month of May.
