All-America City Award

FACTSHEET

BACKGROUND:
The All-America City Award is a program run by the National Civic League. Each year the League receives applications from approximately 100 cities that would like to be designated an All- America City. In Stockton, a committee that included the Mayor and Council representatives, school district officials, business owners and community members from various organizations began work on the City’s All-America City application nearly two years ago. Last year an attempt to become one of the 30 finalists for the award failed. This year, Stockton was chosen as a finalist from one of nearly 100 cities from across the country that applied and subsequently, won the designation as an All-America City.

CRITERIA:
Why was Stockton chosen? The National Civic League uses criteria which

assesses how well a community is doing in citizen participation; community leadership; government performance; volunteerism and philanthropy; inter-group and intra-group relations; civic education; community information sharing; cooperation and consensus building; community vision and pride; and regional cooperation.

Winning cities must present information about the community that corresponds to each of these categories. Stockton’s application featured information on cooperative and creative efforts that led to 8,000 new jobs in manufacturing, a thirty-percent (30%) reduction in crime, a reduction in gang violence, clean-up of the delta, a community needs assessment and the revitalization of downtown Stockton. The application is 14 pages long and cost $500 to submit. (Anyone wanting a complete copy of the application should contact Stockton’s Public Information Officer at 937-8827)

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTS:
In addition to information on community-wide progress, each city must highlight three specific projects that meet the criteria. Stockton’s application highlighted the Apollo Night Performing Art Series, the transformation of the Stockton Developmental Center into a city-based branch of Stanislaus State University and the LEAP (Let Education Attach Pollution) program. Apollo was chosen because it has contributed to the reduction of gang tension and youth violence. The Stanislaus Multi-Campus Regional Center was chosen because it brings higher education “closer to home.” LEAP was chosen because it contributes to keeping the City’s and the region’s waterways clean and healthy ecosystems.

BENEFITS:
The benefits of the award are not completely quantifiable. However, in a recent survey of communities that won between the years of 1994 and 1997, representatives from 80% of those communities believed it had benefited their community significantly. Forty-two percent (42%) had used it as an economic development tool and sixty-two percent (62%) felt it increased community spirit and pride.

The award is of most benefit to those communities that market it well.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL CIVIC LEAGUE:
The National Civic League is a 105-year-old national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions. The League accomplishes its mission through technical assistance, training, publishing, research and the All-America City Award. Since the award’s inception in 1949, more than 4000 cities have applied and a little over ten-percent (10%) of those have won the coveted distinction.