by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Prudential-Davis Productivity Awards is a government improvement initiative administered by Florida TaxWatch and sponsored by that organization in partnership with the Florida Council of 100 and the state of Florida.
One tradition maintained by the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, often referred to as “Downtown Rotary,” is hosting the annual ceremony and inviting North Florida award recipients to a club meetings. The club and its guests gathered Monday at the Hyatt Downtown.
The program began in 1989 as a way to encourage state employees to exceed their job descriptions in ways that can be documented to improve delivery of services while saving taxpayers money.
Now in its 23rd year, the annual competition has recognized thousands of individuals, teams and work units whose efforts have resulted in producing $7.1 billion in added value, according to Florida TaxWatch.
Florida TaxWatch is a private, nonpartisan research group that is considered the watchdog of state spending, revenues, taxes, public policies and programs.
This year’s 23 award recipients from North Florida achieved savings of more than $473 million last year for Florida taxpayers, said Prudential Financial Inc. Vice President of Government Affairs Mike Jennings.
Among this year’s honorees was the Jacksonville Region of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The office’s computer support team was recognized as a group for continuing to provide technical support to 142 FDLE staff in a 13-county area when one of its members was activated for three years of military duty.
The actions by the remaining two members of the team added more than $150,000 in value, said Clarissa Dunlap, executive director of the Prudential-Davis productivity Awards.
Also recognized Monday was FDLE Jacksonville Region Special Agent Michael Antal, who secured $800,000 in federal grants to train and equip 24 investigators in 14 state and local law enforcement agencies in Northeast Florida to perform computer and cell phone investigations and search and seizure of digital evidence.
Mary Gander, a senior investigator in the Jacksonville office of the state’s Department of Legal Affairs, was recognized for developing a method to review complaints about substandard care for elderly and disadvantaged residents that enabled her to handle a 41 percent workload increase over three years. That resulted in an added value of $30,000, said Dunlap.
“Florida is a better place because of the contributions of the people we are here to recognize today,” said Jennings.
For the complete list of the 2011 Prudential-Davis Productivity Awards, visit the www.floridatax watch.org/dpa website.
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