Contact:
Jessica Weirauch
Michigan Municipal League
(734) 669-6311
[email protected]
www.mml.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3, 2023
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan – The Michigan Municipal Executives has awarded its highest individual honor to retired Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt.
Holt received the 2023 John M. Patriarche Distinguished Service Award for his service to Michigan communities spanning nearly 40 years.
The Patriarche Award honors Michigan Municipal Executives members who 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 nominee must have been a member of the MME or its predecessors for a significant number of years.
The award was given to Holt Wednesday, Oct. 18, during an MME Colloquium education session at the 2023 Michigan Municipal League Convention in Traverse City.
Holt expressed his gratitude, stating, “I am honored and humbled to be chosen for this award by my colleagues in the MME. I have spent my entire career serving the public, which has been incredibly rewarding. I would like to thank some great mentors and colleagues for helping me succeed in what can be a very difficult profession: Eric DeLong, Don Mason, Al Vandenberg, and Paula Baker, to name a few. I have always modeled my career after these great people and managers who truly believed in ‘community first’ and leading with integrity and humility. Finally, I want to thank the councilmembers and staff of Wyoming who enriched the final 27 years of my career.”
MME President Elect Christian Wuerth, village manager for the Village of Milford, said, “Curtis has been a champion for the council-manager form of government and an advocate for strong local government leadership. He is truly deserving of this award for all that he has achieved on behalf of the communities he has served over his nearly 40-year career in local government. Curtis, congratulations on a long and distinguished career in local government and for this well-deserved honor.”
Holt earned his Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and Master of Public Administration from Grand Valley State University. Curtis started his local government career as an intern in his hometown of Spring Lake, before serving as the assistant city manager in Cedar Springs and later as city manager in Otsego. He finally found his way to Wyoming, where he first served as deputy city manager and later moved into the city manager role – a position he held for nearly 23 years until his retirement earlier this year.
Holt has been an active member of both ICMA and MME, having previously served on the MME Board and as the association President 2012 – 2013. Holt has also served on various boards, including the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, International City/County Manager Association, Wyoming Chamber of Commerce and many others.
Holt is currently an executive recruiter for the Michigan Municipal League, where he continues to use his experience and skills to shape communities around Michigan.
View and download photos of Curtis receiving the award on the Michigan Municipal League’s flickr page here.
Go here to view a list of prior award recipients.
For more information about MME, go here.
For additional information contact the League’s Jessica Weirauch, Director, Marketing and Communications, at (734) 669-6311 and [email protected]
Michigan Municipal League is dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities. The League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services. Learn more at mml.org.
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