Eagan Administrator Wins 'Manager Of The Year' Award

EAGAN, MN — City Administrator Dave Osberg has received the highest award given by the Minnesota City/County Management Association (MCMA). The Dr. Robert A. Barrett Award for Management Excellence is often referred to as the city manager of the year award, but it includes recognition for much more than that.

Osberg received the surprise MCMA award May 4 in Nisswa with staff and city council members on hand. He has served as a city administrator for 36 years in four different Minnesota cities.

Osberg began fulltime public service in Waterville and St. James, before a 24-year stint in Hastings as City Manager. He was named in 2012 to succeed Eagan’s longtime administrator, Tom Hedges, who retired in early 2013.

“I am floored and deeply humbled to receive this honor from my colleagues,” Osberg said in a statement. “The fact that my family traveled from here from all over, that the City Council and department directors made a point of being here for this surprise is deeply moving to me,” he added.

In receiving the top award from his peers, Osberg is credited with building strong ties with people and his passion for the profession. “When looking at Dave’s entire body of work, it became obvious that he embodies the purpose of the Dr. Robert A. Barrett Award for Management Excellence by being a great role model, leader and supporter for the profession of local government management,” says Oakdale City Administrator Bart Fischer, who led the award selection committee.

The Barrett Award recognizes managers and administrators who are role models for others in city/county government, who demonstrate respected leadership and a track-record of supporting those entering the local government profession. In addition, the award goes to those individuals who exhibit effective and ethical administration.

“Dave Osberg began his career as an intern for the City of Eagan,” noted Mayor Mike Maguire. “It’s fitting that more than three-and- a-half decades later, he now leads the very organization where he began.”

“Keeping this a secret from Dave was not an easy task,” said Assistant Eagan City Administrator Dianne Miller, who coordinated the nomination. She lauds Osberg’s commitment to “breaking down silos” and the pride he insists staff take in the services offered to the community.

Among numerous supportive comments submitted by employees throughout the City of Eagan, many indicated that Dave is as comfortable talking to a maintenance tech as a city council member. One commented, he “facilitates a group discussion without dominating it.”

Building on that, the Executive Director of the League of Minnesota Cites, Dave Unmacht, remarked that Osberg is “respectful to everyone” and “has the unique ability to relate to every generation.” The nomination also observed that Dave Osberg was appointed by his peers in Dakota County cities to co-chair the first Dakota County High Performance Partnership (HiPP), a collaborative effort aimed at achieving greater efficiencies and better service for constituents across the County.

He is past president of MCMA and a former president and long-serving board member of the League of Minnesota Cities. The Minnesota City/County Management Association (MCMA) is the professional and educational organization for appointed management executives and assistants serving cities, counties and other local governments in Minnesota.

MCMA is the state affiliate of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), headquartered in Washington, D.C. The award is named in honor of Dr. Robert A. Barrett, who served as the director of the Urban and Regional Studies Institute at Minnesota State University-Mankato, and as secretariat for MCMA, until his death in 1998.

Image via City of Eagan