From the prepared text of Mayor Taveras’s State of the City speech Tuesday:

Often, City employees – our neighbors, friends and family members – go above and beyond to render extraordinary service. I recently learned of one example that I would like to share with you.

On the Friday before Christmas, Joe Elliott and Bill Newell – inspectors in the Office of Inspections and Standards – learned that an elderly woman in our City was living without heat. Inspecting the property, they found out that the problem wasn’t just a lack of oil or an unpaid gas bill, but that the woman’s home required significant mechanical work that would cost thousands of dollars.

Mr. Elliott and Mr. Newell thought that without some kind of intervention, the City might need to condemn this woman’s house and relocate her in order to prevent her from suffering. So they worked around the clock Friday, and kept working when they were off duty on Saturday and Sunday to make sure this resident’s heating problem was fixed.

They coordinated with National Grid and with contractors who volunteered their time and expertise to have the heating problem fixed at no charge. They weren’t being paid, and they weren’t even asked to do it. They did it because it was the right thing to do for this woman and for our City.

Mr. Elliott and Mr. Newell are here with us tonight, and I’d like to ask them to stand for a moment so we can thank them for their service to our City.

Well, that is just heartwarming. Dan McGowan has a full rundown of the speech here.