By Mayor Herbert Gears
I'm proud to announce that the City of Irving has received statewide honors at the Achievement Level—the highest level possible before receiving the Texas Award for Performance Excellence (TAPE Award). Our city is being recognized for its well-deployed, effective and systematic approach to management and to city government. Our City Council, City Manager, Chamber of Commerce and others in leadership roles here in our community are doing an excellent job in the eyes of the Quality Texas Foundation, an organization which evaluates businesses, schools, hospitals, non-profits and government agencies, offering recommendations to improve performance.
Receiving this notable recognition as a firsttime applicant is a great accomplishment that few organizations achieve. Of the 22 organizations named for performance recognition, Irving was the only municipality recognized. The fact that Irving reached this milestone on its own—without the aid of outside consultants who often guide organizations through the process—speaks volumes about how much the city has accomplished in a short period of time.
Typically, organizations make improvements slowly—reaching each of four levels of recognition (Engagement Level, Commitment Level, Progress Level and then Achievement Level) before earning the top award. For Irving to advance to the fourth level, on the brink of that final step which is the highestaward level, is remarkable.
Our commitment to being a leading pro-business city, a community offering an unparalleled quality of life and a leader in education, is something we take very seriously. We are committed to performance excellence and quality, the very things a TAPE award measures. We are awaiting feedback from the Quality Texas Foundation to see which areas we can make incremental improvements upon.
Our goal is to establish Irving as the highest ranking city in Texas and as we reach closer to the TAPE award, it is worth noting that Irving has the top possible score in most every other important measure. In fact, just this past week we received the news from both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s that Irving has maintained its Double AAA bond rating, the highest possible rating for its general obligation bonds. Very few cities have the diversified employment base, strong general fund reserves and conservative and sophisticated financial revenue policies in place to achieve the AAA Rating—a designation which translates to millions of dollars in taxpayer savings and favorable tax rates for Irving’s citizens and businesses.
Earning recognition from Quality Texas and from both major investment houses takes hard work and commitment. The dedicated employees of the City of Irving positively impact the community on a daily basis, contributing to the tremendous quality of life we all enjoy. For their efforts, a debt of gratitude is owed.
Home to six of “the best small businesses in America,” four Fortune 500 global headquarters and the only 5-star accredited Chamber of Commerce in Texas—Irving is certainly distinguishing itself as a leading, model municipality. We continue to set the bar at a level other cities aspire to reach.
