Winner: Marshalltown, lowa, Mayor Joel Greer

摘要

On July 19, an EF-3 Tornadoripped throughMarshalltown,Iowa. It onlytook minutes for the historic town of 27,000 to be decimated. Scores of homes were destroyed, civic infrastructure was reduced to rubble and thousands of residents were left terrified in the wake of the destruction.Despite the devastation, the community was able to take refuge in and rally around their city's leadership. Although no one individual is an island during such trying times, MarshalltownMayor Joel Greer made a clear and consorted effort to spearhead the unification and restoration of his city. For these efforts, he has been selected as this year's Exemplary Public Servant of the Year.Watching the two microcells approaching the city via smartphone app, Greer knew difficult work was ahead. When the storm hit, he was on the way from his home to the fire station - a ride that would usually take a few minutes. "It took close to an hour, and I still had to walk the last three blocks," Greer says. "So many streets were completely blocked by trees, power lines were down... walking the lastthree blocks to the fire station, I recognized the steeple to our beautiful courthouse in the street."