Dean Kazinci, Township Manager of Teaneck, NJ, has been awarded the 2022 NJ American Society for Public Administration Public Servant of the Year Award for his leadership in his town in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kazinci, who has been serving as Township Manager since 2018, led the way in making Teaneck safe before the state and Bergen County took action. He issued executive orders to implement safety precautions and restrictions in public places like stores, parks, and municipal buildings. In addition, he assisted the restaurant community in Teaneck by closing roads and allowing businesses to use the sidewalks and streets for outdoor dining.
Kazinci also transformed the Richard Rodda Community Center into New Jersey’s largest vaccination point of distribution in collaboration with Teaneck’s Holy Name Hospital. With this collaboration and effort, 170,000 NJ residents were vaccinated in this location.
Throughout the pandemic, Kazinci addressed the town directly through weekly video press releases and implemented reverse 911 robocalls, updating the community about the state of the town and how to stay safe and protect those in the community.
In 2019, he was awarded the NJMMA Outstanding Manager Award, which recognizes an administrator or manager successfully implementing a specific exemplary project or program in the last three years. This award was given to him for his work with the Teaneck Council to implement new safety measures to protect the community in the event of a critical railroad incident.
On top of being Town Manager, Kazinci is also a certified human resources professional, a Certified Public Manager, and a member of NJMMA.