Chief William J. Bratton Named One of Governing Magazine’s Public Officials of the Year

Los Angeles: Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton will receive one of Governing magazine’s Public Official of the Year awards on Wednesday, November 7, 2007, at a private dinner ceremony hosted by the magazine in Washington, D.C. Chief Bratton is one of nine officials to be awarded, and is only the second police chief ever to be recognized in the history of the magazine.

The Public Official of the Year Awards are given in recognition of outstanding achievement at the state and local levels. This year’s group of recipients is the fourteenth to be honored in the magazine’s annual awards program. Governing magazine is an independent national magazine devoted to the coverage of state and local governments. It was launched in 1987 and has a monthly circulation of 85,000.

Said Governing executive editor Alan Ehrenhalt, "These individuals have each changed their governments for the better. They have provided their organizations with something that was desperately needed—be it fiscal discipline, managerial skill or a commitment to bipartisan conciliation—and in doing so have improved the lives of their citizens. Public officials across the country can learn from their outstanding examples."

In addition to Chief Bratton, the other recipients of Governing magazine’s 2007 Public Officials of the Year are Washington Governor Christine O. Gregoire; Houston Mayor Bill White; California Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez; Chief Financial Officer of Washington, D.C. Natwar M. Gandhi; Bill Leighty, a top civil servant in Virginia for two decades; Charlotte, North Carolina planning director Debra D. Campbell; Missouri’s Deputy Chief Information Officer for Operations Bill Bott; and Wisconsin Bureau of Assisted Living Director Kevin Coughlin.

The award winners are profiled in the November issue of Governing and can be viewed on the Department website at www.lapdonline.org.