CITY OF RENO NEWS RELEASE
Tomorrow at the Reno City Council meeting, David Fraser, executive director of the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities, will present a trophy to Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza. Sferrazza was named Public Official of the Year for 2011 at the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities Annual Conference last month in Mesquite, Nev.
Sferrazza has served as the Reno City Council representative of Ward 3 for three consecutive terms. She was the youngest council member ever elected in the city’s history at age 27. Since taking office in 2000, Sferrazza has been actively involved in the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities, serving as president in 2010.
While serving on the Reno City Council, Sferrazza has dedicated many of her efforts to revitalizing previously neglected areas of the city, with particular attention to the Wells Avenue corridor and, more recently, the Oliver/Montello area.
In 2002 Sferrazza initiated a bond question to construct a new regional animal shelter and consolidate regional animal services, with the question receiving 60 percent voter approval. Sferrazza has actively sought to engage the city’s youth in civic life, has advocated for the creation of affordable housing throughout the community and remains committed to improving government for the citizens of Reno.
The Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities has 22 member agencies and provides its members with legislative and research services, group insurance and benefits programs, training programs, workshops and conferences.
The Public Official of the Year program started in 1979. Past recipients of the award include former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen and Elko Mayor Mike Franzoia. Former Wells Mayor Rusty Tybo received the award in 2010. Sferrazza is the fifth woman to win the award and only the second representative from the city of Reno to receive the award. Former Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin was Public Official of the Year in 2000.
