Bruce Tough nominated for Public Official of the Year award

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The Woodlands Township Board of Directors Chairman Bruce Tough has been nominated for the Houston Metropolitan Area Public Official of the Year award.

The 4th Annual Public Official of the Year Ceremony will be held on March 6, 2015, at 11:30 a.m. at the University of Houston Hilton - Waldorf Astoria Ballroom.

This award recognizes the work of Houston metropolitan area public officials, who through their accomplishments and tireless efforts, ensure the public’s everyday needs are addressed and the public good is served. Alumni, staff and students of University of Houston’s Master of Public Administration Program gather and rank the nominations for the annual award. They look for examples of public officials who addressed a particular public challenge in an ethical and collaborative way in the previous year.

This year, five finalists have been selected. These individuals exhibit qualities consistent with those espoused by the MPA Program – trust, accountability, performance, ethical decision-making and crossing jurisdictional boundaries to solve problems. Other finalists for this year’s award are H.D. Chambers, Superintendent for Alief Independent School District; William Frazier, Managing Attorney for the Office of Child Protective Services for Harris County, Chris Reed, City Manager for the City of Nassau Bay; and Francisco Sanchez, Liaison/Public Information Officer for Harris County.

“Considering the dedication and accomplishments of the other nominees, I’m quite honored just to be considered for this award,” said Bruce Tough, Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Woodlands Township.

Since 2010, Mr. Tough has served as Chairman, or Mayor-equivalent, to the community of 110,000 residents and apporoximately 2,000 businesses. He first became involved in The Woodlands community leadership in 1999, when he was elected as a Director on the Woodlands Community Association Board, (WCA), the forerunner of The Woodlands Township, and served in that role until 2010 when the Township was created. During his service to the WCA, Mr. Tough held the position of President from 2000 until 2004 and also served as Chairman of The Woodlands Community Service Corporation. In addition, he was elected as President of The Woodlands Fire Department from 2000 until 2004, and again in 2006 until 2011. During his tenure, the department increased its Public Protection Class rating from ISO 4 up to ISO 1, the highest rating a fire department can achieve. There are only 60 fire departments in the nation with this ranking.

From 2003 until 2008, Mr. Tough served as a Trustee to Conroe Independent School District. His civic activities in The Woodlands and Montgomery County include serving as Director and Chairman of the Board of the Greater Woodlands Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the annual Economic Outlook Conference, Nominating Chair of the Boy Scouts of America George Strake District and Tall Timbers District, as well as Director for the Center for Houston’s Future since 2010, and as a March of Dimes Board Member.

"We started this award to honor the type of leadership and professionalism that exists in the field of public administration but goes largely unseen and unrecognized. It's the exact type of leadership and professionalism that we want to instill in our students. Each nomination is judged and ranked by a committee of current students and alumni of the UH MPA Program. We take the top five finalists and award the honoree at the luncheon," said Dr. James Thurmond, Director of University of Houston Master of Public Administration Program.

For more information about the award, please contact MPA Public Official of the Year Project Manager Tiffany Hogue at UHMPA@mail.com or 832-524-7045.

For more information about The Woodlands Township, please visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.gov.