Jabe Cullen didn’t think he deserved an award – he was just doing his job.

&#8220I like what I’m doing,” said Cullen, 58, a city employee summoned to a Vicksburg board meeting last week. &#8220I like keeping the streets as clean as I can, and I like talking to the people downtown.”

Mayor Laurence Leyens, however, chose to recognize him for being what the mayor called &#8220a model employee.”

&#8220In the five years that I’ve been here, I have never seen him not working,” Leyens said. &#8220He’s out there picking up trash, and he has a positive attitude. Not to say that I don’t have other good employees, but he clearly stood out in my mind.”

When Cullen moved to Vicksburg in 1974 he had never had a job – until 1993 when he started working with the city as a contract employee through Mississippi Industries for Developmentally Disabled-West, a nonprofit agency that offers employment training, placement, job coaching and other support to employable, handicapped people in Warren County. The program has placed more than 500 individuals in jobs.

The City of Vicksburg hired Cullen in 1998.

&#8220What we try to do here is integrate our participants into society and help them become productive citizens,” said Mary Kavanaugh, MIDD-West transitional director. &#8220Jabe is an example of successful placement. He has done a good job and has grown with the development of downtown Vicksburg.”

Robert Hubbard, the city’s community service department supervisor, agreed.

&#8220This is my fifth year working with Jabe and he’s always been very dependable,” Hubbard said. &#8220He’s a great person to work with.”

Cullen has been genuinely surprised by all the attention.

&#8220The mayor just told me to be at the meeting at 10 o’clock,” he said. &#8220I didn’t know they were going to do all of this for me.”