La Porte a Finalist for All-America City Award

LA PORTE -- For the first time in its history, the city of La Porte has been named a finalist in the All-America City competition.

Mayor Leigh Morris and other city officials will travel to Anaheim, Calif., June 6-8 to compete with 21 other cities for the honor, including the city of Fort Wayne, which was named an All-America City in 1982 and 1998.

The award recognizes municipalities for citizen involvement, efficient and effective government, philanthropic and volunteer resources, consensus building, community vision, and intercommunity cooperation.

“It’s quite an honor for our community to be on the list of All-American cities,” Morris said Tuesday. “It indicates that we have something pretty great in the city of La Porte.”

It was Morris’ idea to submit an application in February for the prize that’s been presented annually for the past 57 years by the National Civic League.

A delegation from each city will make a presentation in Anaheim on innovative programs and local solutions to issues such as youth engagement, education, poverty, housing, immigration integration, and race relations to a group of their peers from across the United States.

A jury of national business, government, philanthropic and non-profit leaders will select the top 10 communities based on their presentations and applications. From there, one city will be picked for the top award.

Among finalist cities are: Hollywood, Fla.; Dubuque, Iowa; Lombard, Ill.; Clinton, N.C.; Laredo, Texas; and Independence, Ore.

“This program spotlights hope and a can-do spirit behind the ability to achieve results. Every year people from the finalist communities tell us how they’ve transformed through the application process and the competition,” said National Civic League President Gloria Rubio-Cortes.

Winning the award in 1998, according to Fort Wayne Area Advocate Denise Porter-Ross, helped Fort Wayne in some intangible way to weather the slowdown in the automotive industry better than other cities like Flint, Mich.
“(Fort Wayne) staved off further decline for a longer period of time. We were able to stay stronger, longer,” she said.

In addition to economic advantages, Porter-Ross said the award results in a greater sense of pride among community members, increased volunteerism and, in the case of Fort Wayne this time around, which has teamed with Allen County, improved cooperation with the county as a whole.

According to Fort Wayne officials, winning the award assists communities in gaining and retaining businesses because it attracts and retains residents who want a healthy community.

Morris said he hopes even being among the finalists will help attract business to the city.

“This will be another boost for economic development for our community. Hopefully it will cause companies to look again at La Porte,” he said.

But before any celebration can begin, the team of city leaders will have to find a way to get to California -- a cost Morris said won’t be borne by taxpayers.

“We will be innovative,” he said, without getting specific.

Fort Wayne officials, on the other hand, said they would utilize taxpayer money to fund their trip if it exists within their budgets for travel expenses, Porter-Ross said. Otherwise, she said, they, too, would have to investigate fundraising options to subsidize their trip to the West Coast.

Daniel Przybyla, 1-866-362-2167 Ext. 13865,
dprzybyla@heraldargus.com