Dubuque is An All-America City
On Friday 8 June 2007, 7:00pm PDT in Aneheim, CA the National Civic League announced the winners of its 2007 All-America City Awards. DBQ was recognized as 1 of the 10 cities to win the award. The award has been given since 1949 to recognize "exemplary grassroots community problem-solving and is given to communities that cooperatively tackle challenges and achieve results." According to their website the award has "encouraged and recognized civic excellence, honoring communities of all sizes (cities, towns, counties, neighborhoods and regions) in which citizens, government, businesses and voluntary organizations work together to address critical local issues. Communities that teach the rest of us how to face difficult situations and meet those challenges in innovative and collaborative ways can become an All-America City."Each of the 30 finalist cities send representatives who make a 10 minute presentation to a jury. (DBQ did their presnentation on Thur.) After the city delegates tell their story the jury then have 10 minutes to ask questions of them.
"The All-America City Jury, comprised of nationally recognized public and civic affairs experts, reviews each of the finalists' applications. The All-America City Application asks the community to assess its strengths and weaknesses using the Civic Index, a 10-component tool developed by the National Civic League to evaluate a community's civic infrastructure. The application also requires a description of three community-driven projects that have had significant positive impact on community concerns since 2000."
Each city is judged on the following criteria:
Participation of the public, private and nonprofit sectors and key constituencies to the maximum extent possible.
Recognition and involvement of diverse segments and perspectives (ethnic, racial, socio-economic, age, etc.) in community decision-making.
Creative use and leveraging of community resources.
Significant and specific community achievements.
Projects that address the community's most important needs.
Cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries.
Clear demonstration of project results and impacts (i.e. dollars raised or number of people affected).
Projects which have significantly improved the community within the last three years and have the potential to continue improving the quality of life.
At least one project must document ways in which the lives of children and youth have been tangibly improved.
The DBQ delegation presentation centered in on 3 areas: riverfront development, downtown revitilization & the recently opened Crescent Community Health Center. (All of these fit very well within the above listed criteria.)
Congratulations to DBQ. Our community has worked hard to bring about the many things that brught this about. It is a well deserved award. Something for all of us in the area to be proud of.
Also, the city's water won an honorable mention in the 2007 City Water Taste Test sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors. DBQ has won this award in the past.
posted by Al @ 11:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home