It is a little bit like the Academy Awards, the drama, the acceptance speeches, the rowdy fun, you get the idea.
So, live, from the Marriott Waterside in Tampa, here are the winners of the 2009 All-America City Awards, posted as they are announced:
With a little more than a week to go until the National Civic League’s 2009 All-America City Awards conference convenes in Tampa, I’m posting information about the various city projects that are nominated for recognition.
To recap again, 30 cities, towns, neighborhoods and communities are vying for recognition as an All-America City at the June 16-18 conference at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. Each will give a short presentation on three public-private civic projects they undertook before a panel of judges names the best. Tampa is one of the finalists.
Former Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman is the president of the National Civic League this year and a big proponent of these kinds of partnership projects. During her tenure, in 1990, Tampa was named an All-America City. Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason is also involved, as a member of the Host Committee.
AAC nominee Inglewood, Calif., nominated three of its most successful efforts, including an urban retail center that revitalized a dilapidated neighborhood, a neighborhood noise suppression effort to buffer people who live near LAX and this project:
Inglewood, California
Youth Auto Repair Apprenticeship
In a city where employment rates have been historically low, job training programs for Inglewood’s youth addresses an important need and remains essential for Inglewood’s sustained workforce. In 2006, the City of Inglewood and the Los Angeles Opportunity Industrialization Center (LAOIC) launched the Youth Auto Repair Apprenticeship. Since, the city’s Fleet Management and Transit Services have trained more than 120 young students at Inglewood Unified School District and other schools throughout Los Angeles, at no cost to the student. Inglewood and LAOIC partnered with South Bay Workforce Investment Board, South Bay One-Stop Business and Career Centers, County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, the County Department of Public Social Services, and the school district to offer morning maintenance classes for academic credit to 10-15 high school students each semester. LAOIC’s mission is to provide quality training and employment to economically disadvantaged people of all races and backgrounds, enabling them to become self-sufficient.
