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All-America City 1999
 Why Stockton is an All
 America City
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All-America City - Application
Announcement
| June
26, 1999 |
Contact:
Councilmember Ann Johnston
(209)
476-9505 |
Stockton Vies for Nation's
Most Prestigious Civic Recognition Award All-America
City Winners to be Announced in Philadelphia
June 26
Stockton,
CA - March 26, 1999 - Stockton has submitted an application
for the 1999 All-America City Award. Stockton joins
93 communities who have submitted applications for
the 50th Anniversary All-America City Awards, the
nation's oldest and most prestigious civic recognition
program.
For
50 years the All-America City Award has encouraged
and recognized civic excellence, honoring communities
of all sizes in which citizens, government, businesses
and voluntary organizations work together to address
critical local issues.
Since
1949, nearly 500 communities have earned the All-America
City designation. The All-America City Award is a
national Civic League program supported nationally
by the Allstate Insurance Company.
"We
thought it was about time everyone knew about the
great things that are happening in Stockton," said
Mayor Gary Podesto. "We think being an All-America
City is an honor our city deserves. They have worked
for it."
"All-America
cities can teach and inspire communities throughout
the nation who are struggling with similar difficult
local issues," explains Christopher T. Gates,
President of the National Civic League. "In
addition, All-America City winners and finalists
experience heightened national attention - a proven
boost for the recruitment of industry, jobs and investment
to the area."
The
All-America City Award applications will be reviewed
by a 20-member screening committee of public and
civic affairs experts. Following a careful and thorough
examination, 30 finalists are announced. This year
the finalists will be announced on April 20. The
ten 1999 winners will be announced June 26 in historic
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
For
a community to be named an All-America City, it must
be able to demonstrate successful resolution of community
issues through collaborative effort. Communities
must list three projects where local business, government,
and nonprofit organizations have worked together
to tangibly improve the lives of their community's
residents.
A
committee representing diverse constituencies faced
the daunting task of selecting three programs for
inclusion in the All-America City Award application.
After careful deliberation, they chose the Apollo
Night Talent and Performing Series, Let Education
Attack Pollution (LEAP) and the mammoth effort to
bring a California State University Campus to Stockton
as three projects that highlight the growing energy
and commitment of citizens along with government
to effect positive change. All three projects reflect
a "can do" attitude and the willingness
on the part of all the stakeholders to overcome each
and every obstacle to success.
Both
Apollo Night and LEAP (Let Education Attack Pollution)
have given youth opportunities to achieve tangible
success. The Apollo Night Talent and Performing Series
has touched thousands of youth. Anyone who wants
to see and feel the vibrant, enthusiastic, diverse
Stockton has only to attend an Apollo Night production.
Residents from ALL over the community rub elbows,
and the visible pride of parents, friends, and performers
makes the theater positively glow. A teen recently
described how the Apollo Night Talent and Performing
Series had changed her. Crystal, age 14, said: "The
Apollo Night made me believe in myself. " Apollo
Night has contributed to far fewer rival gang altercations,
with a dramatic reduction in gang related murders,
from 20 in 1997 to 3 last year.
LEAP
Edison High School students and staff kicked off
LEAP (Let Education Attack Pollution), an ecosystem
restoration project. The school's goal was to increase
recognition of water pollution problems and spark
interest in research techniques, environmental science
and job opportunities in the environmental arena.
School faculty, an environmental group (DeltaKeeper),
business leaders, and city staff lent their assistance.
Students saw the results of their work as they removed
more than thirty years of debris. Participants interviewed
on TV stated, "It makes us feel good, it benefits
the community and beautifies the waterway".
Conversion of Stockton Developmental Center (SDC),
former state mental hospital, into a California State
University (Stanislaus) higher education facility,
has been described as "nothing short of a miracle".
In less than three years a myriad of individuals,
organizations, and agencies progressed from initial
planning to operations. Today, 1,000 students are
enrolled (with a plan to increase enrollment to 5,000
by 2011), making the promise of affordable higher
education a reality. Creation of this campus is also
bringing jobs and stimulating redevelopment, both
keys to the successful economic future of the city.
"For
fifty years, these remarkable communities have exemplified
the true American spirit at work," said Peter
Debreceny, Vice President Corporate Relations at
Allstate. "Allstate is proud to have the opportunity
to honor the communities that we have served for
over 65 years in their efforts to build stronger,
safer places to live and work." The Allstate
Insurance Company has been the sole corporate supporter
of the All-America City Awards since 1988.
Last
year's All-America Cities were Riverside, California;
Santa Maria, California; New Haven, Connecticut;
DeKalb County, Georgia; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Chelsea,
Massachusetts; Rochester, New York; Saranac Lake
Village, New York; Toledo, Ohio; and Tacoma, Washington.
Headquartered
in Denver, Colorado, the National Civic League (NCL)
is a 105-year-old non-profit, non-partisan organization
dedicated to strengthening citizen democracy by transforming
democratic institutions. NCL accomplished its mission
through technical assistance, training, publishing,
research, and the All-America City Awards. For more
information about the National Civic League, visit http://www.ncl.org/ncl. |
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Stockton,
CA 