Mayor Coleman surprised longtime city employee Metric Giles this morning (October 21, 2016) with news that he had been chosen as the 2016 recipient of the annual Karl Neid Community Involvement Award.
“I’m happy to present this award to Metric, a man who has dedicated his life to our community,” said Mayor Coleman. “There is no better reflection of that than through this award, given to him by his peers.”
Metric was chosen by a team of past Karl Neid award winners and Council President Russ Stark. The Karl Neid Community Involvement Award, established in 1992, honors the late Karl Neid, a community activist and City Council member who died from a heart attack after devoting his entire life to serving the people of Saint Paul. Shortly after his death in 1992, this annual award was established to recognize a City employee who has a record of outstanding public service both at work and in his or her personal life.
Metric has been with the Saint Paul Regional Water Services for thirty years, and for most of his life, was a resident of the Frogtown neighborhood. His community interests run the gamut from urban farming to dispute resolution to public transportation. He fought for additional stops along the Green Line during its planning and served on the Metropolitan Council’s Central Corridor Community Advisory Committee. Beyond his time working for Water, he sits on myriad boards of directors and volunteers extensively in his community, from helping students build Little Free Libraries at Como Park High School, to turning empty lots across Saint Paul into urban gardens, such as the Oxford Community Garden.
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