HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-21-10 Evan J. Sears Award Recipient Announced
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
Monday, June 21, 2010
3:30PM
Contact: Carl Littrell, Dept. of Public Works, 574- 235-5951, or
MaryAnn Myers, Mayor’s Office, 574-235-5849
2010 EVAN J. SEARS AWARD
RECIPIENT ANNOUNCED
Today, James Herman was awarded the 2010 Evan J. Sears Award and Scholarship. This
award was created in honor of Evan J. Sears, an intern with the Bureau of Traffic and Lighting,
who was killed in a traffic accident while working in a city street during the summer of 1999.
Evan’s memory lives on through the City’s safety efforts and the memorial scholarship.
Each summer, student interns of the City are invited to enter an essay contest on
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workplace safety. Now in its 10 year, the contest is open to any student who has interned with
the City for at least one summer. This year, the contest was judged by Marci Sears, Evan’s
mother, Becky Bonham, a friend of the Sears family, Gary Gilot, Director of Public Works, Tom
Price, Assistant to the Mayor, and Robert Yeary, the Director of Safety and Risk for the City.
The award was presented today by Marci Sears and Mayor Steve Luecke. Mayor Luecke
thanked Mrs. Sears for her continued efforts to partner with the City in selecting the recipient of
the annual scholarship in Evan’s memory, in promoting safety in the workplace for all workers,
and in encouraging our student interns to learn more about workplace safety. Mayor Luecke
stated that the scholarship “helps the City reinforce the importance of safety while celebrating
the memory of Evan, and Marci has been a guiding light throughout the process.”
Mrs. Sears said, “Our wonderful son and brother, Evan, was taken from us eleven years
ago while working in traffic. We miss him terribly and hold him in our hearts always. The City
of South Bend has gone to great lengths since that terrible day, to train and equip their workers to
be as safe as possible in the workplace. Unprecedented emphasis has been placed on safety
education, behavior and equipment and for that, we are extremely grateful.”
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This year’s winning essay, written by James Herman, discussed the increasing dangers of
texting while driving. He wrote about the precautions workers take in order to keep themselves
safe in the face of distracted and careless drivers. James is an undergraduate student at Purdue
University and a summer intern for the Water Works division of the Department of Public Works
This is James’ second summer as a seasonal fire hydrant painter for Water Works. He also
worked in that position during the summer of 2008.
Dave Tungate, James’ supervisor, said, “We are very proud of Jim Herman and the fact
that he is the 2010 recipient of the Evan Sears scholarship. He has obviously taken the City's
safety program very seriously. Jim's essay touches on a very important topic, distracted driving.”
Gary Gilot, the Director of Public Works and a judge of the essay contest, also noted the
importance of James’ topic choice. “James has identified cell phone use and particularly texting
while driving as one of the greatest worries to our employees who work in the public right of
way---he is right,” said Gilot, “A distracted driver, inattentive for even just a moment, could
cause a tragedy or cost a human life. No text to a friend is so urgent that we can't pull off the
road to make the communication safely.”
In addition to sponsoring the Evan J. Sears Scholarship, the City continues to improve
safety practices and performance. Safety training is conducted for each employee at the New
Employee Orientation, and all Summer Interns with the Department of Public Works are
required to participate in safety training before beginning work. The City of South Bend has
implemented a written safety policy on training, which is conducted for new and regular
employees as regulated by local, state and federal laws. Follow-up training, as the need arises, is
conducted for employees performing required duties working in traffic areas. The City also
provides training on proper use of safety equipment and ensures the issuance of proper safety
equipment, such as safety vests, safety glasses and safe work shoes.
Past recipients of the annual Evan J. Sears Memorial Scholarship Award:
Dustin Hartman 2001
Lamond Brown 2002
Todd Plawinski 2003
Bridget Sniadecki 2004
Eric Baierl 2005
Jenna Plawinski 2006
Lindsey Smith 2006
Jenna Plawinski 2007
Mallory Dudeck 2008
Cody Springman 2009
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