by Marquel Coaxum, Multimedia Coordinator
MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (March 21, 2018) – The Town of Mount Pleasant was named as a finalist for the 2018 All-America City Award in an announcement Wednesday by the National Civic League.
Mount Pleasant, the 2010 All-American City Award winner, was selected along with 19 other communities as finalists for the award. The award is given to the top 10 communities each year.
"These finalist communities are building local capacity to solve problems and improve their quality of life," said National Civic League president Doug Linkhart. "The National Civic League is honored to recognize these communities, and views their efforts as critical in addressing the challenge to communities issued by the 1968 Kerner Commission, 'to make good the promises of American democracy to all citizens – urban and rural, white, black, Spanish surname, American Indians, and every minority group.'"
Created in 1949, the All-America City Award – once called the Nobel Prize for constructive citizenship – has been awarded to more than 500 communities across the country. It recognizes places, cities and towns for outstanding civic accomplishments, said the National Civic League.
Finalist communities include the 7th largest city in America, San Antonio, and a town of only 22,000 people, Decatur, Georgia. The 20 finalists share a common bond of working to create equitable communities through inclusive civic engagement, they said.
The National Civic League identified this year’s focus for the award on promoting equity through inclusive civic engagement.
The award is open to all American communities, from major cities, counties and regions to tribes, neighborhoods, towns and villages.