| DeSoto is Named All-America City | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| DeSoto, TX –
June 13, 2006 – The City of DeSoto was honored to be named an
All-America City by the National Civic League at the finals for the
award in Anaheim, California on Sunday, June 11th. Each year, cities
across the country apply for this prestigious award which the National
Civic League calls “the Nobel Prize for constructive citizenship”.
DeSoto and Pharr where the only two Texas cities, among 10 cities
nationwide, who received the 57-year-old All-America City (AAC) Award
which recognizes exemplary grassroots community problem solving. The award is given to communities that identify their challenges and collaboratively work together to achieve results. Completing the AAC application requires cooperation among citizens, government, businesses, and voluntary organizations. It offers an opportunity for a community to examine their strengths and possibilities, to explore local resources and to create innovative solutions to their problems. DeSoto Mayor, Michael Hurtt, said the award is a validation that DeSoto's efforts to become a model community are working. "Council's vision statement, which was written about four years ago, described their vision of DeSoto as a model city and we felt that being named an All-America City would be a good measure of that status," said Mayor Hurtt. As a result, DeSoto city staff and members of the community spent countless hours gathering information, formulating a plan and completing the 26 page application for the All-America City Award. The application highlighted DeSoto Dining and Dialogue, our Empowered Homeowners Associations Program and Youth Initiatives including the Hip Hop Summit. Completing the application required DeSoto to look back at its challenges and accomplishments over the past three years. The citizen-based DeSoto Dining and Dialogue program, which brings people of diverse ethnic backgrounds together over dinner, was a shining example of a community effort to address issues resulting from the changing demographics. The idea of embracing diversity through the DeSoto Dining and Dialogue program was borrowed from Dallas. "Our last census indicated that DeSoto was experiencing white flight," said Lynda Humble, Assistant City Manager for DeSoto. "With that shift in our population came fear." Since its inception more than three years ago, DeSoto Dining and Dialogue has included more than 1,000 people of diverse ethnicities, backgrounds and ages. "We are starting to see that fear dispelled," said Humble. "Quite often the dinners begin with tension and there is uneasiness," according to Denise Valentine, chair person of DeSoto Dining and Dialogue. "But by the end of the evening as participants realize that we all share the same basic value system and want the same things for our community, the tension eases and participants are exchanging phone numbers, shaking hands and hugging." "By naming DeSoto an All-America City, the judges have affirmed our citizens' willingness to tackle the diversity issue and to begin to work through the challenges created as the population shifts," said Mayor Hurtt. "I would like to offer my sincere appreciation to the more than 100 citizens, business leaders and city staff who worked on this project for the last eight months," said DeSoto Mayor Michael Hurtt. "You inventoried our programs and showcased our most innovative and effective projects and helped us officially recognize the public and private partnerships that were formed to address issues in our community. "I would also like to thank our citizens who are involved, day in and day out, in these programs because you embody the community spirit that makes DeSoto a great place to live, work and play," said Mayor Hurtt. Winning cities are allowed to use the red, white and blue All-America City logo on banners, letterhead, business cards and other city publications. "We'll even put it on our water towers," said Hurtt. When asked how receiving the award will impact DeSoto in the future, Mayor Hurtt responded by saying, "It is quite an honor to be recognized nationally for our efforts and I hope that our citizens experience a renewed sense of pride in our community. I've always known we were great and now we have validation of that". ### Contact: Kathy Maples, Community Relations Manager
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