Hillsborough County Clerk of Court & Comptroller Pat Frank has been honored with the Florida Excellence Best Practices Award for her major restructuring of the office that improved customer service, increased efficiency and enhanced communication. The Florida Excellence Award is based on the nationally renowned Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award and honors public and private organizations that demonstrate performance excellence in customer service, workforce and organization.
“We are honored to have been recognized with a Florida Excellence Award,” Frank said in a statement. “I have the privilege of working with a strong team of determined employees dedicated to public service.”
The reorganization created the new Customer Service Center at the Edgecomb Courthouse, where the public can pay traffic citations, make child support payments, file civil suits and conduct numerous other transactions.
It’s a nice plaudit for Frank,who has served as the Clerk of the Court in Hillsborough County since 2004. For the first time since that election, she’s facing a serious challenge to another four-year term in the person of fellow Democrat Kevin Beckner. The two will participate in a candidates forum this Friday in Tampa.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who has come out and endorsed Frank in the race, said he was “delighted” to learn of her award. “Pat Frank has a long track record of integrity, accountability and fiscal responsibility,” he said.
Frank and her team will be honored along with other award recipients during the Florida Excellence Best Practices Conference, May 12-13 in Orlando.
Other winners this year include the Charlotte County Utilities Department, the Largo Parks and Recreation Department, Pinellas County government, the City of Ocala, the Sarasota Clerk of Court and Comptroller and Sunstar Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Pinellas County.
