Blog: City Blog

National Public Works Week: Public Service's David Welch Honored with Award Nomination

With 42 years of service to Knoxville, David Welch is receiving statewide recognition for his work with a nomination for the 2017 Murphy Snoderly Award from the Tennessee chapter of the American Public Works Association.

The award recognizes the most outstanding public works employee in Tennessee. Welch’s dedication to Knoxville and passion for his job made him an easy nomination. He has served in the Horticulture Division since 1974 and set the standard for his peers that entire time.

Despite working in Public Service for more than four decades, Welch’s job has never been boring. He helps maintain all of Knoxville’s parks, recreation center grounds, alleys, greenways and trails. He prides himself for helping to make the city more beautiful every day.

Whether he’s raking leaves, picking up litter or helping landscape an empty space, Welch has been behind Knoxville achieving a clean and green look.

Sheryl Ely, Deputy Director of Public Service and the person who nominated Welch, says that Welch has always brightened up the City and the office in equal measure.

“As I watch David work, I see his passion for beautifying the city,” Ely said. “He makes me smile each day."

He’s nicknamed “Squeaky” around the office, and Welch has maintained a squeaky-clean reputation throughout his career.

The parks under his care simply don’t generate any complaints about unmowed grass or weeds in manicured beds. Without a word, he takes the extra steps needed to keep his green spaces looking their best – regardless of bad weather or relentlessly hot summer stretches.

But it is not just work that Welch is devoted to. Devotion defines his entire life. He and his wife Caroline have been married for 45 years. They have lived all of those 45 years in Knoxville, and they love their city.

The Murphy Snoderly Award is named in honor of a longtime public works employee who believed that the day-to-day work in his department was going unnoticed. Thus, he went out of his way to honor those who pick up trash and clean our cities every day.

Welch will find out if he has been selected for the award at the Tennessee Municipal League conference in Murfreesboro on June 13.

written by Jarrod Nelson, Communications Intern

Posted by On 25 May, 2017 at 4:14 PM