Some might call Glen Harris a bureaucrat, an epithet George W. Bush used three times in the first presidential debate.

Harris calls himself a building custodian.

For 22 years he has labored in Boston school buildings, sweeping floors, painting walls, picking up trash and making minor repairs. Now the senior custodian at East Boston's Guild Elementary School, he greets parents and children as the day begins and stays well after the last student has left. A few months ago, when the school was needed as an emergency shelter after a vicious fire, Harris was there.

Everyone seems to know him. Perhaps more than the principal or the teachers, he personifies the school. He is the human face of government, that too many consider faceless.

Work for the government and people assume you got the job from your well-connected brother-in-law. They expect that you come in late, leave early, take long lunches and coast your way to retirement. You are cold and uncaring, a petty and vindictive functionary who enjoys tormenting the public.

Not so with Harris. Not so as well with five other individuals who, along with Harris, will next Wednesday receive a Shattuck public service award from the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.

The public service awards, named for City Councilor and state Rep.  Henry Lee Shattuck, are given annually to the city's ``unsung heroes,'' in the words of bureau chief Sam Tyler. (Other Shattucks are awarded as well to more well-known individuals who have contributed measurably to the city.)

Now in its 15th year, the award selection process is rigorous. Those chosen need to be exemplary employees. They must be individuals who have shown initiative beyond their day-to-day duties, individuals who take seriously the notion of public service.

At first glance, the winners seem to have little in common.

Some, like 24-year veteran Karen Devereaux, a systems analyst, have been with the city much of their working lives. Others, like City  Council budget director Gail Hackett, have worked in government for only a few years.

The jobs they perform vary widely. John McDonough, now in his third decade with the city, is chief financial officer for the Boston Public Schools, a high-profile and powerful position. Others, like Patricia  DiCenzo, assigned to the Boston Police Department's Special Operations Division, work behind the scenes, unknown to the general public.

But talk to the winners and some common themes emerge. One of them is embarrassment.

One would think award winners would relish their moments in the sun. Not so this year's recipients. They all seem discomfited by the honor, quickly giving credit to their co-workers. Reached by telephone, systems analyst Devereaux still seems stunned by the award. She stammers that she is too self-conscious to talk about it.

This may be because, like the famed MacArthur ``genius'' awards, potential award winners don't nominate themselves. Instead, it is supervisors, fellow workers and the public who nominate. Indeed, the bureau even takes suggestions over the Internet. When the awards are announced, they generally come as a complete surprise.

Surprise or not, the winners are deserving. Shattuck winner Mary Carr is a senior project manager with the Department of Neighborhood Development. One day, late on a Friday after everyone else had left, she received a call from a partially blind, elderly woman who was in a panic. Her pipes were leaking and she didn't know what to do.

It wasn't Carr's job to help her, but she did anyway. She phoned a plumber and agreed to pay the bill herself if government emergency funds didn't cover the cost. The plumber showed up. The problem was fixed.

To Carr, that's job satisfaction.

The police department's Patricia DiCenzo has spearheaded the creation of a number of programs that reach out to the city's kids. She's started reading programs, Thanksgiving turkey giveaways, field trips to the department's horse stables and community cookouts. None of those things falls within her job description. She's a secretary.

``My job has become a way for me to reach out to the community,'' she says.

The City Council's Gail Hackett, who came to her job from private  industry, speaks openly about her pride in working for the city. ``This is a chance to work for the public good,'' she says. ``It's the most rewarding job you could have,'' adds the department of neighborhood development's Mary Carr. Working for the city, according to the school department's John McDonough, is an opportunity for ``individuals to make a difference.''

These are cynical times in which we live. But from custodian to chief financial officer, this year's winners seem to love their work and care about their city.

There's an old joke: One of the biggest lies is, ``I'm from the government and I'm here to help.''

Here's to six who bust that stereotype wide open.

Tom Keane writes every Friday for the Herald. He can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.