Pictured are members of the "Doc" Ballard's family with the 2022 "Doc" Ballard Award Winners.

The Northeast Texas Public Health District (NET Health) recently announced the co-recipients of the 2022 W. T. “Doc” Ballard Award for Excellence in Public Health, Meteorologist Mark Scirto, Smith County Fire Marshal Jay Brooks, and Tyler Fire Chief David Coble.

“Doc” Ballard, a registered professional engineer for the Texas Department of Health and mentor to NET Health, was a leader in protecting the health of the public. His expertise and administrative skills ensured the environmental controls crucial to the quality and safety of public drinking water and public food service, proper disposal of waste, and the monitoring of radiation.

Mark Scirto is the Chief Meteorologist for KLTV 7. Mark graduated in 1982 from the University of St. Thomas in Houston with a degree in Meteorology and joined KLTV in January 1987. Mark remained as the original Daybreak Meteorologist for four years before moving to KPLC-TV Channel 7 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he worked as Chief Meteorologist for three years. While in Lake Charles, he was awarded First Place in the Louisiana A.P. for Best Weathercast.

In 1994, he re-joined KLTV and has been nominated for a Dallas Press Club Katie Award, an honor no other meteorologist in our area has ever received. Mark has held the Seals of Approval from the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society since 1989.

Jay Brooks was appointed as the Smith County Fire Marshal in 2014 and then again in 2019. He also serves as the Smith County Emergency Management Coordinator and chairman of the Local Emergency Management Committee.

In 1998, Marshal Brooks served Smith County as a volunteer recovery diver and firefighter/EMT-B. He became a peace officer and joined the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office in 2008 as a volunteer deputy and is a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator and a Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator by the National Association of Fire Investigators.

Chief David Coble started career in 1984 with the Fort Worth Fire Department reaching the rank of Executive Assistant Fire Chief. He served as interim Fort Worth Fire Chief before retiring in 2016, then being selected for the position of Tyler Fire Chief on Sept. 28, 2016.

He also holds certifications through the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) as Master Structure Firefighter, Advance Instructor, Master Fire Inspector, Hazardous Materials Technician and Head of Department. In addition to his fire service duties, Chief Coble serves the community through Leadership Tyler, the Salvation Army, the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, and as the City of Tyler’s Liaison to Veteran Groups in Smith County.