Public Works Accreditation

On August 27, 2001, the Public Works Department for the City of Port St. Lucie received the American Public Works Association's Full Accreditation Award. The department is the first department in the State of Florida and eighth in North America to receive the award. The purpose of the accreditation program is to provide a means of formally verifying and recognizing public works agencies for compliance with the recommended practices set forth in the Public Works Management Practices Manual. It is a voluntary, self-motivated approach to objectively evaluate, verify, and recognize compliance with the recommended management practices.

The objectives of the accreditation program are to:

• Create impetus for organization self improvement and stimulate general raising of standards
• Offer a voluntary evaluation and education program rather than government regulated activity
• Recognize good performance and provide motivation to maintain and improve performance
• Improve public works performance and the provision of services
• Increase professionalism 
• Instill pride among agency staff, elected officials and the local community

The Port St. Lucie Public Works Department was formed in 1988 and today consists of more than 100 employees. The City is located in St. Lucie County, which is part of the Treasure Coast of Florida. The City itself is 114 square miles with a population of more than 150,000. The department has been charged with the maintenance of the 876 miles of city streets, 159 miles of drainage rights of ways, 26 bridges, traffic control devices, mowing, drainage control structures, landscaping, aquatic spraying, sidewalk maintenance, and much more. The City Manager also assigned the tasks of Emergency Management to the department naming Donald Freedland, (Public Works Director) as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the City.  

This was only the beginning for the department. On February 28, 2006 the department became the first in Florida to achieve reaccreditation by the APWA. A successful examination by the board revealed that all of the best management practices that were required were met with substantial compliance by the department.

The department recognized that the accreditation process, along with its 529 Best Management Practices, would accomplish exactly what it was looking for. The award signifies that the department has met the professional standards established by the Accreditation Council and that the residents of Port St. Lucie are the real winners because they can be assured that the department has met those standards and is rated as one of the top Public Works Departments in Florida and in the nation.  

The next re-accreditation process for the department will be in February 2010. The department plans on continuing its accreditation status with APWA and has also committed to work with other Public Works agencies, both within the State of Florida and other parts of the country, to assist them in their quest to become a professional agency through the accreditation process. To learn more about the accreditation process, please visit the website of the APWA at  http://www.apwa.net/About/Accreditation/

For questions concerning accreditation contact:

Carmen Capezzuto
Accreditation Manager and
Certifed American Public Works Association
Accreditation Evaluator
(772)871-5100 or
email carmenc@cityofpsl.com