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Reprinted from The Clarion Ledger.
By: By Sylvain Metz
smetz@clarionledger.com
A candlelit guided walking tour of the historic Natchez City Cemetery earned Natchez the designation as best overall city in The Clarion-Ledger/Mississippi Municipal League's 2004 Excellence Awards.
The two-night tour, which features actors and descendants of historic figures buried there, is used as a fund-raiser to keep up the 182-year-old cemetery.
Six other cities also will receive Excellence Awards, designed to recognize a public-private partnership used to solve community problems, Wednesday night during the league's annual conference on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The selections were made by a representative of the National Municipal League and two local judges — former Clarion-Ledger President and Publisher William W. "Bill" Hunsberger, who died of a heart attack June 13, and William Harris, associate dean and chairman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning for the College of Public Service at Jackson State University.
Harris, who has served as a judge for the past four years, praised Hunsberger as "a real champion for this exercise (who) demonstrated as much commitment as did the localities in making applications over the years."
The awards recognize achievements of cities in meeting challenges of municipal government.
The program "encourages our cities to be innovative and creative when issues arise in municipalities, forming partnerships with other organizations in their cities to make things happen ... that might not otherwise be possible," said Mississippi Municipal League Spokeswoman Shari Veazey, noting there were 35 entries this year.
This year, there were two size categories: communities smaller than 2,500 in population and larger than 2,500. The overall winner could be drawn from any size category.
The City Spirit awards will go to:
--The town of Pelahatchie for Muscadine Park, a new playground and walking trail built with donated materials and labor by public and private groups and individuals.
--The city of Tupelo for its "Arts for the City" displays — art created and donated for the new city hall building that opened in February 2002 with no money for art to adorn the walls.
The Planning and Economic Development award will go to:
--The town of Goodman for bringing a New Deal grocery store to town after the town had gone nine years without one.
--The city of Hattiesburg for the mayor's financial education initiative designed to increase awareness of Earned Income Tax Credits and other tax credits available to its citizens, while also promoting the use of free electronic tax preparation sites.
The Public Safety award will go to:
--The city of Nettleton for securing funding for a 200,000-gallon water tank for fire protection for the town and Peoploungers Inc., a major industry employing 900 people there.
--The city of Picayune for its "Partnership, Pride and Progress" program designed to educate individual segments of the community about the Picayune Police Department. |
