THE CITY OF LYNWOOD IS AN ALL-AMERICA CITY!
Kansas City, Missouri- The City of Lynwood was one of ten cities nationwide to receive an All-America City Award. The National Civic League announced the winners of the 61st annual All-America City Award during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, MO. The City of Lynwood competed against 25 other cities for this award. Lynwood last received this honor in 1961 and become a finalist in 1991. Lynwood is one of two California cities to receive the honor; the second is Rancho Cordova. The two California cities join Chandler, Arizona; North Miami, Florida; Acworth, Georgia; Des Moines, Iowa; Salisbury, Maryland; Gastonia, North Carolina; Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; and El Paso, Texas.
The National Civic League's 61-year old awards program recognizes neighborhoods, villages, towns, cities, counties and metro regions for outstanding civic accomplishments. To win, communities have to demonstrate an ability to address serious challenges with innovative, grassroots strategies that promote civic engagement and cooperation between the public, private and nonprofit sectors. The All-America City Award is an honor achieved by more than 600 communities.
This highly coveted accolade initiates a renewed civic spirit and pride plus a significant local, state and national attention that is a proven boost for recruitment of industry, jobs and investments to communities” says City Manager Roger L. Haley. “I challenged my team to bring this national recognition to our community and they met the challenge.” The City submitted an application for the competition in February to showcase its advanced surveillance camera program, its Brush with Kindness program — in which it partners with Habitat for Humanity — and its Lynwood Youth Sports Association program. The City’s video surveillance camera program has a lot to do with the improvements, along with an aggressive plan to attack violent crime between the Sheriff’s, the City, and residents. These efforts have resulted in the lowest number of homicides, with zero homicides in the year 2010, compared to average of 20 homicides in past years.
This city has gone through challenging, difficult times,” Santillan said. “This recognition isn’t just for the City Council… this recognition is for the residents, the Sheriff’s Department, the City’s staff, the children and for the teachers. The credit goes to everyone in the City for uniting, because one person cannot change the image of a community, it really does take a village.”
This year, the public was able to follow the action by watching live-streaming of the event courtesy of Free Speech TV and a live chat featured by Twitter and Facebook. Communities also produced videos which told stories showcasing their efforts to promote civic engagement and solve local problems. Members of the public voted in the tens of thousands to back their favorite videos on the All- America City blog, www.allamericacityaward.com.
For more information on the All-America City Award or the National Civic League, visit our blog at www.allamericacityaward.com or contact us at 310-603-0220.