The City of Lodi was honored Thursday by the San Joaquin County Mayor’s Committee for the Employment of People With Disabilities as Employer of the Year for 2009.

The City of Lodi has been able to provide an opportunity for people with disabilities to have productive, meaningful jobs through United Cerebral Palsy, and service our community.

The nomination for the top large employer award recognizes an employer who has hired, trained and retained employees with disabilities, and has 100 or more employees.

The Lodi Public Works Department has worked with United Cerebral Palsy since 2000, focusing efforts on cleaning public facilities. In recent years, UCP workers have seen their duties expand from just cleaning downtown parking lots to cleaning the Lodi Station, downtown parking garage, bus stops with shelters or trash containers, and downtown streets and sidewalks.

Lodi recently agreed to a $50,000 contract with UCP to provide downtown cleaning services for the 2009/10 fiscal year.