Hardy feted by League of Cities

Anyone who has been around the Boulder City political world for any stretch of time already knows that Mayor Joe Hardy is a pretty humble guy and not one to toot his own horn.

So it should really come as no big surprise that there is not a lot of information out there about the fact that he was just recognized by the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities for a lifetime of public service.

Part of that may be because the award was a genuine surprise, even to Hardy, who sits on the League’s board of directors. Dubbed the “service recognition award,” the plaque reads, “A lifetime of service to the people of Nevada from the halls of the Legislature to the heart of local government. Your leadership, integrity, and compassion have strengthened communities across our state.”

“It came as a total and complete surprise,” Hardy said in a phone interview on Monday following the award ceremony. “And I don’t know if or when or how they’ve given it to other people, but I didn’t even know it existed and I’m on the board of directors. And I asked, ‘Well, how did this come about?’ And they said, ‘Well, it was a board decision.’ I said, ‘How can they do that? I’m on the board.’ So they went behind my back.”

Hardy is no stranger to public service and his resume extends far beyond Boulder City.

After serving on the city council from 1999 until 2002, Hardy was elected to the state assembly where he served for almost a decade. He was then elected to the state Senate and served there from 2010 until he was termed-limited out in 2022. He then ran for and was elected as mayor of Boulder City.

In addition to Hardy, the league honored Ed Lawson, the mayor of Sparks, as their public official of the year.

“He’s just done a wonderful job. Working with the homeless and affordable housing and, I mean, just done a wonderful job,” Hardy said. “So they gave him the big award, the big, huge cup that has all the names of prior people who’ve won it.”

The city did release a quote from City Manager Ned Thomas about the award.

“Being in public service is in and of itself rewarding – you can tell that Mayor Hardy truly enjoys his work,” Thomas said. “His dedication to public service helps keep Boulder City an amazing place to call home.”

The annual conference of the League of Cities and Municipalities took place between Oct. 26 and 29 at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson. Hardy gave a little bit of back story about the day of the award.

“I couldn’t make it to city council because I had this thing that I had to do with Nevada League of Cities. So [Mayor Pro Tem Sherri Jorgensen] was conducting city council Tuesday night. And, lo and behold, the Nevada League of City stuff got done early. So I said to Ned Thomas, who was attending there, I said, ‘You know, I can get back to Boulder City and go to city council.’ I mean, I was done at 4 p.m. I could go to city council and I could go to the meeting and get back to Henderson in time for some of the awards dinners.”

Hardy said that Thomas, “did the math” and advised against it, saying that there was no way to know how long the meeting would go because of potential for public comment.

“And I said, ‘Oh, your point is well taken.’ It would not look good for the mayor to leave in the middle of public comment. Ain’t no way I’m going to walk out on my people in public comment. And so I just went into my car and made phone calls and took care of my other mayoral businesses for an hour and then attended the dinner. And so they gave this wonderful award to Ed Lawson, and then they said, ‘Well, we have one more award,’ and I was just sitting there innocently and Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero, who’s the president of Nevada League of Cities this year, she went up and lo and behold, they put my picture up on the screen. And I said, ‘what?’ And so turns out, they were giving me an award, unbeknownst to me, totally surprised.”

Hardy told a story about being back in Boulder City the next day and having a random resident congratulate him while he was at a 7-11 filling his car up with gas and being surprised that anyone even knew.

“Well, the way I say it, you know, if you get old enough, they’re gonna give you an award,” Hardy concluded.

Not only did the mayor win a big award, he’s also got some pretty cool dance moves. Check ‘em out here.