Delray Beach city manager wins prestigious awards

DELRAY BEACH — The Florida City and County Management Association (FCCMA) presented the 2010 Award for Career Excellence to Delray Beach City Manager David T. Harden for his exceptional service in municipal government.

The presentation took place at its annual luncheon held recently in Orlando.

The Award for Career Excellence acknowledges “an outstanding local government administrator who has fostered representative democracy by enhancing the effectiveness of local elected officials and by consistently initiating creative and successful programs.”

Delray Beach City Manager David T. Harden

During his 39 years in municipal government, 20 of which have been dedicated to the city of Delray Beach, Harden’s style of leadership has established a vision for the city that focuses on improving the quality of life in the community. His philosophy is to strive to improve upon this vision by working diligently with the City Commission and municipal employees to meet the needs of all residents.

Harden also received the FCCMA President’s Award for outstanding professional team building and Managers in Transition (MITS) support. The FCCMA President awards this honor to those who, by example, have gone above and beyond in modeling the core practices of local government management.

In addition, the City’s Grant Team received honorable mention in the Program Awards Excellence category for its successful efforts in securing Federal Economic Stimulus Funding which has been used to benefit the community.

Harden began his career in local government in 1971 when he became a planner for Orange County, Florida.  Three years later, he took the position of city planner for Winter Park and in 1977, rose to the position of city manager.

In 1989, Harden left Winter Park and in 1990 took on the responsibility of city manager for Delray Beach.

Faced with a city that was plagued with financial challenges and lack of vision, he played a key role in reinventing Delray Beach as a thriving municipality through strategic planning and goal setting.  Under his direction, the city has earned many accolades and awards including two All America City honors (1993 and 2001), Preserve America Community (2008) and Playful City USA (2009).