Geneva City Administrator Mary McKittrick has earned the 2016 Outstanding Administrator Award from the Greater Chicago Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

The Chicago Chapter has been honoring outstanding professionals in the fields of public administration and policy for more than 25 years. The purpose of the award is to honor an individual with connections to the Chicago area who has made substantial contributions to good government and public administration for an extended period.

The award was granted by the Northern Illinois University Department of Public Administration faculty.

After leading Geneva’s government operations for the past eight years, City Administrator Mary McKittrick will be retiring effective June 10.

McKittrick was influential in creating the City’s Strategic Plan Advisory Committee, the Student Government Program, partnering with Northern Illinois University to establish an internship program at the City, establishing an Employee Ethics Committee, who in turn developed a City Code of Ethics, and cultivating a professionally run organization.

The City received its first budget and audit awards several years ago under McKittrick’s leadership. She has also been an advocate for improving Geneva’s communications outreach, which resulted in updating the City’s website, including a transparency webpage, hiring the City’s first communications coordinator in 2013 and establishing a City presence on social media.

Prior to her appointment as City Administrator in 2008, McKittrick served as Geneva’s Assistant City Administrator/Director of Administrative Services beginning in 1999. In that position, she was responsible for all operations in the Finance, Human Resources and Information Technologies divisions. She began her career in local government as an elected official in 1985 until her appointment as the first Village Administrator for the Village of Oswego in 1991.