People like to think the media never print the good news. So I'm happy Illinois Issues is once again co-sponsoring the Motorola Excellence in Public Service Award. Now in its ninth year, this award recognizes an innovative agency head who works for the city of Chicago, Cook County or the state of Illinois. I chair the selection committee, and the North Business & Industrial Council and Motorola have again joined the magazine as co-sponsors.

Congratulations to this year's winners: Mary Dempsey, commissioner of the Chicago Public Library, and Audrey McCrimon, assistant to the secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services and former director of the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services.

Dempsey has been responsible for upgrading Chicago's library services and helping residents of some of the city's poor neighborhoods gain access to the Internet at modernized facilities. I asked her last month what she's most proud of, and she responded clearly: providing access to information in multiple languages. Though summarized in a few words, that is no small task.

Hanging on McCrimon's office wall is a large collage with the acronym "DO IT," which stands for Director's Opportunity for Input Task Force. At DORS, McCrimon gathered employees at all levels once a month to talk about ways to improve the agency. The collage consists of dozens of small note cards praising and thanking McCrimon for responding to her co-workers' experiences on the front lines.

McCrimon and Dempsey will be honored at a luncheon October 19 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago.

Chicago really started something with its Cows on Parade celebration last summer. The successful project to place hundreds of painted fiberglass cows on city sidewalks drew acclaim from city businesses, artists and a countless number of people who enjoyed the unexpected encounter with strange, large-as-life creatures.

Spin-offs of the project spread to other cities. Cincinnati has pigs on parade. Peoria does, too. New Orleans has fish, Buffalo has buffaloes and Orlando will have large lizards. What tickles me is the local reaction to New York's Cow Parade, which has drawn mixed reviews. Some New Yorkers must think if it's not Monet, it can't be art. They must be too snobby to think anything cultural could be fun.

The New York Times ran a headline in July that said, "Isn't It Time To Put Those Fiberglass Visitors Out to Pasture?" A Washington Post reporter conducted some person-on-the-street interviews and concluded: "The reviews are not good." Humbug on New York!

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