The City and Borough of Juneau’s city manager, Rorie Watt, was named the 2022 Municipal Official of the Year by the Alaska Municipal League, an award given to a staff member of a city government in Alaska who demonstrated dedication to their city and go above and beyond in their position to better the community.
“He’s done a very good job as a city manager — he just does a brilliant job for us and we want to share his success in Juneau with the state,” said Mayor Beth Weldon in a phone interview with the Empire.
The award was announced in Anchorage Thursday afternoon at a luncheon during AML’s annual Local Government Conference.
“I was surprised and flattered, for sure, I think people are too nice,” Watt said in a phone interview with the Empire. “I am just really thankful for the opportunity to work on a lot of really interesting issues and work to make Juneau a great place to live.”
Watt has been involved with CBJ for nearly three decades, with roles spanning across all facets of the municipality from working as a seasonal technician to leading CBJ engineering for nearly a decade to taking on the role of city manager which he has held since 2016.
“At the end of the day I get to be the city manager of my hometown — I’m really lucky,” Watt said.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.