Lisa Garcia, Florence’s town clerk and deputy town manager, said she was honored last month to receive the Gabe Zimmerman Award from the Center for the Future of Arizona and described efforts to use municipal government to teach local history and encourage civic participation.

The award recognizes staff who work behind the scenes to connect the public to government. “I was the first clerk to ever receive this award,” Garcia said on the town’s Moment with the Mayor podcast. “Everything I do … my true love is to the clerk profession and to the transparency that the clerk profession brings.”

The award presentation occurred during an Arizona City Managers Association event, Garcia said, and her son and the town manager attended. She described the moment as personal and as recognition for the time municipal employees and their families spend on public service.

Garcia, who also served as international president of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC), told the mayor she traveled with a study-abroad program for municipal clerks and saw how other cities use public art and displays inside municipal buildings to teach local history. “If we don't start protecting our history soon, we'll have lost it,” she said, arguing municipalities can be the keeper of local records and stories by making them visible in government buildings and programs.

Garcia described several Florence programs she leads or oversees. She said the town’s long-running leadership academy was recognized by the governor’s office, was converted for a time into a self-sustaining nonprofit, and was recently brought back under municipal oversight to keep civic education available. The town also runs a teen symposium and a teen council; Garcia said the symposium is intended to “engage the next generation of leaders” and teach leadership and public service values.

On workforce development, Garcia advised people seeking municipal jobs to consult the League of Arizona Cities and Towns website for openings and to review job descriptions for required skills. For those pursuing the clerk’s profession she recommended joining the IIMC and the Arizona Municipal Clerks Association for certification and professional development.

The mayor and Garcia discussed recruitment of elected officials. Garcia said it can be difficult to persuade people to run because of social-media criticism and public scrutiny. The mayor noted Florence will have four council seats up in the next election and named the incumbents: Vice Mayor Kathy Adams, Nicole Bouchalado, Moe Maldonado and Arthur Namm. Garcia said packets and calendars will be prepared and that the filing window opens in the November election cycle.

Other anecdotes during the interview included Garcia’s recounting of a study-group trip to Newfoundland and Labrador in which polar bears disrupted a school bus, and a brief mention that Country Thunder has contributed items for the IIMC Foundation silent auction valued at “upwards towards a few thousand dollars,” according to the podcast.

No formal council action or vote was taken during the podcast; the program was an interview and informational segment. Garcia said Florence will resume its leadership academy in the spring, likely beginning in February, but noted dates were not finalized on the podcast.

The interview highlighted municipal efforts to preserve records, expand civic education and encourage a future generation of public servants while noting the personal commitments municipal employees make to public life.