The Citys way of recognizing employees is a joke! Why not recognize employees by giving them bonuses or time off with pay?
There is no good answer to this question. Monetary awards are extremely delicate in a non-profit, tax-supported, public agency. This is most likely because of the potential for abuse, or appearance thereof. Also, there is no way to justify monetary bonuses because there is no visible effect on the bottom line (because there is no bottom line).