Marion Mayor Nicolas AbouAssaly was named the inaugural Mayor of the Year honoree among cities with more than 2,000 in population by the Iowa Mayors Association.
The award was presented at the association’s business meeting Sept. 20, held during the Iowa of League of Cities Annual Conference & Exhibit in Cedar Rapids.
According to a news release, the Mayor of the Year Award was created to recognize individuals who have provided extraordinary public service to their community, the league, the Iowa Mayors Association and local government. The award has two population categories: Under 2,000 and over 2,000. Mayor Allen Hadfield of Treynor won in the under 2,000 category.
Mr. AbouAssaly has been active in the community for numerous years, serving on the City Council for over two years before becoming mayor in 2015. In 2020, the city faced the combined challenges of a pandemic and a devastating derecho storm. Under his leadership, the city formed a COVID-19 Community Recovery Task Force that brought to the table representatives of government, business, health care, schools, human service agencies and faith communities.
He also helped lead the city’s response to the derecho and assembled a disaster recovery team that opened an emergency food pantry, set up emergency hotlines for those in need of help and communicated with federal and state officials to secure assistance.
Throughout his tenure, Mr. AbouAssaly has been active with numerous civic efforts and initiated programs like the Mayor’s Youth Council, the Community Equity Task Force and City Council Office Hours. He is an advocate for progress while honoring the community’s history, and he challenges his colleagues to think bigger and go the extra mile, the release states.
