Marion Police Officer Wins Paul Draper Spirit Award

Congratulations to Tom Daubs for becoming the 2022 Paul Draper Spirit of Marion award winner. If you've never heard of this award, it is given to a City of Marion employee who best represents dedication to public service.

Paul Draper is a former City Council for whom the award was named after. He served on the Civil Service Commission for 25 years according to CBS2Iowa.

Officer Daubs was presented the award by Mayor Nick AbouAssal and City manager Ryan Waller. Daubs has been with the Marion Police department for 26 years and is currently working as a Resource Officer for the Linn-Mar community school district. He has also been the police department's public information officer, according to CBS2Iowa.

There have been a lot of stories this past month showcasing city employees. Whether that be firefighters putting out house fires or police officers dealing with gun violence in downtown Cedar Rapids, it's just nice to see something positive.

Daubs is a bit of a local celebrity according to City Manager Ryan Waller. CBS2Iowa reports Waller said

“Tom Daubs is a local celebrity in Marion, he is a dedicated public servant, a relationship builder, and one of Marion’s biggest cheerleaders. Tom lives out our Reach Higher! philosophy daily and we are so blessed to have him on our team.”

Often times you might hear people saying we idolize celebrities too much in America and that we should idolize police officers, teachers, doctors, etc. Knowing that Daubs has a great relationship with his city is comforting for community members of Marion.

Daubs likes to volunteer, ride his bike, and run. You may catch him in the next 5k or half marathon around town. He also is involved in the DARE program at local schools.

I've always said being a police officer has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world. They don't get paid enough, and they can be harassed in public, and even threatened on a daily basis, but who do we call when we need help? The Police. Who always shows up when we need them? The Police. We should be thanking our public servants every day. Thank a police officer today and congratulations to Tom Daubs.