Waffles And Winning: Three Budget Staffers Win Traeger Award, Norfolk

Press release from the City of Norfolk:

Posted on: December 22, 2020

NORFOLK, VA – Congratulations to Emily Uselton, Pete Buryk and Megan Erwin in the Office of Budget and Strategic Planning! These three definitely remember what's important in life: friends, waffles and work.

Each has been named to the Traeger List by the group Engaging Local Government Leaders, which works to amplify the good in local government. The award is named for Chris Traeger, the city manager for the fictional City of Pawnee, Indiana on the show "Parks and Recreation," and recognizes the top 100 influencers in local government.

Budget and Policy Manager Emily Uselton premiered on the list at #10 nationwide! Uselton leads the budget team and is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of the city’s annual $1.4 billion budget, a process that takes eight months. This year, Uselton and her team was forced to scrap the entire document just weeks before its planned presentation to City Council due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the city’s budget. Uselton and her staff completely rebuilt the budget within two weeks to account for projected revenue losses.

Pete Buryk is the Director of CivicLab within the Budget Office. He joins the list at #17. Under his leadership, his team has developed the city’s first data governance policies, revamped its open data portal, and introduced an enterprise business intelligence platform.

Finally, HUD Compliance Manager Megan Erwin makes her second consecutive appearance on the Traeger list at #28. She made the list for her role in transforming the city’s HUD office and her work as the city’s Coronavirus Stimulus Coordinator.

There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food and winning a good government award.

Way to go, Emily, Pete and Megan! Treat yourselves!

Pete Buryk

Megan Erwin

Emily Uselton

This press release was produced by the City of Norfolk. The views expressed here are the author’s own.