All-America City Table
of Contents
All-America City
Announcement Article
All-America City -
The Process
All-America City -
The Competition
All-America City -
Editorial "It Really IS a Big Deal"
All-America City -
Presentation Script
All-America City - photos and video index
All-America City - SCLT article by Jan
Reed
All-America City - Congratulatory Messages
from the Community
The Winning Application |
Sierra Madre Named All-America City
By
Bill Coburn
Mayor Enid Joffe stepped
on stage to the cheers of several hundred delegates representing twenty
cities across the country in Anaheim last week, just after Sierra Madre was
the second city announced of ten communities that earned the All-America
City award title, the oldest and most prestigious civic recognition
competition in the United States. Communities from thirteen of the fifty
states participated in the three-day event, which was held at the Anaheim
Marriott in Orange County, California. There is no ranking among the ten
cities chosen, there are ten cities selected, and ten number ones. You
might say the ten finalists not selected are ten number twos.
Joffe addressed the
crowd, with most of the City’s delegation of nearly sixty people, close to
twenty percent of whom were youth, standing behind her. She thanked the
National Civic League for naming Sierra Madre an All-America City. “I can’t
think of a better birthday present to our city than the All-America City
award. I have to say, it’s been a very tough year in our community, we’ve
had a divisive election, we’ve had some issues, we’ve had a lot of uproar in
our community, and even though we’ve been called Mayberry, even Sheriff Andy
has some problems once in a while.” She continued “I feel like we all have
sixty new friends in this delegation, and hundreds of you out there who are
now our friends, too.” She then recognized Deputy Director of Community
Services Elisa Weaver, noting that Weaver is one of those people who puts in
40 hours and then turns around and volunteers 40 hours. Weaver stepped to
the mike and gave credit to the team of delegates, noting that “This isn’t
something, as you all know, that one or two people could do alone.” She
added that “I do what I do because I work for the best community I’ve ever
known.”
The winning communities
are: (listed alphabetically by state):
Flowing Wells, Arizona
(neighborhood)
Santa Rosa, California
Sierra Madre, California
Hollywood, Florida
Polk County, Florida
Dubuque, Iowa
Lewiston, Maine
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Clinton, North Carolina
Hickory, North Carolina
Gloria Rubio-Cortés,
president and CEO of the Denver-based nonprofit National Civic League stated
that "These All-America cities symbolize the spirit of grassroots democracy
and community problem solving." "Their award-winning efforts addressed some
of the most difficult challenges facing communities today. The National
Civic League is nonpartisan organization founded in 1894 to strengthen
citizen democracy. NCL accomplishes its mission through technical
assistance, training, publishing, research, and the All-America City Award,
the nation's oldest and most prestigious community recognition program. Now
in its 58th year, the award is an honor achieved by more than 500
neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, counties, and regions across the
country. Some have won the award multiple times.
The 2007 winners tackled
tough community issues such as healthcare, environmental protection,
demographic change, economic development, promotion of the arts, innovations
in parks and recreation programs, cultural diversity, education,
neighborhood revitalization, youth involvement in local decision-making and
public safety.
After an extensive
application/screening process, each finalist community sent a delegation of
civic activists to present three examples of collaborative community problem
solving. A "jury" of experts on local government and community affairs
selected the ten winners based on their stories of positive community
change. For a community to be named an All-America City, it must be able to
demonstrate successful resolution of community issues through collaborative
effort. Award winning criteria include the following: active citizen
involvement, effective and efficient government performance, maximized local
philanthropic and volunteer resources, a strong capacity for cooperation and
consensus building, community vision and pride, inter-group relations,
community information sharing, and intercommunity cooperation.
"All of the communities
that participated in this year's All-America City Awards are winners," said
NCL Chair Robert Rawson Jr. "These communities serve as models for the rest
of the country by working collaboratively and demonstrating their ability to
overcome challenges. That's what the All-America City Award is all about."
Now in its 58th year,
more than 4,000 communities (neighborhoods/cities/towns/counties/regions)
have competed and nearly 500 have been named "All-America Cities. Some have
won the award multiple times. AAC winners are nationally recognized and
realize significant economic impacts and increased civic engagement.
Cities named as finalists that were not selected
as All-America City:
Calabasas, California
Kissimmee/Osceola County, Florida
Covington, Georgia
La Porte, Indiana
Fort Wayne - Allen County, Indiana
Lawrence, Kansas
Shawnee, Kansas
Independence, Oregon
Laredo, Texas
Radford, Virginia
|
Video of Mayor Enid Joffe
accepting the award on behalf of Sierra Madre, Part 1
Video of Mayor Enid
Joffe accepting the award on behalf of Sierra Madre, Part 2
Video of Mayor Enid
Joffe accepting the award on behalf of Sierra Madre, Part 3
Video of Mayor Enid
Joffe accepting the award on behalf of Sierra Madre, Part 4
Video of Mayor Enid
Joffe accepting the award on behalf of Sierra Madre, Part 5
Video of Elisa Weaver
addressing the audience, Part 6 |
