N.O.
Courts All-American Title with Pride
By Rhonda Nabonne
(Saturday,
June 15, 1996)
(Click
here for the printable version)
FORT WORTH, Texas
A glimpse of New Orleans—the good, the bad and
the
ugly—was put on view Friday for a panel of poker-faced
judges looking for problem-solving and partnership,
ingenuity and progress.
With
only 20 minutes to present evidence, about 100 New
Orleans-area citizens and community leaders used a
video to display the city's charm and testified about
a wave of efforts to fight crime, rescue abandoned
houses and create jobs.
They jury will be out until tonight, when New Orleans
will learn whether it's worked hard enough to be called
an all American city.
New
Orleans is one of 30 finalists in the All-American
City and Community Award competition, a 47-year-old
program sponsored by the National Civic League to
recognize outstanding accomplishment in the face of
adversity.
Mayor
Marc Morial told New Orleans delegates Friday that
winning the prestigious award would represent "a
significant turnaround" for the city. The city
won the award in 1950 but tried again and failed in
1980, said Kim Sport, a Chamber of Commerce volunteer
and co-chairwoman of this year's New Orleans entry.
Civic
League officials said the award not only boosts community
pride and public awareness, but also serves as a tool
to promote economic development.
New
Orleans delegates were confident after making their
case to the 12 judges, some of whom suspended their
neutrality to clap along with the youth choir that
traveled to Fort Worth to help drive New Orleans‚
point across.
"I
think we've won already when you think about all the
pride they're going to take back home with them,"
Chamber of Commerce President James Monroe said as
delegates cheered and embraced each other.
After
the presentation, Linetta Gilbert of the Greater New
Orleans Foundation led delegates in a prayer that
they continue working together when they return home.
The
delegates were prepared to answer tough questions
during their presentation.
Police Superintendent Richard Pennington touted strides
made with community policing and the juvenile curfew
as crime-fighting tools.
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When one of the judges asked about
community information sharing, Nick Mueller told him
about the Greater New Orleans Free-net, which provides
on-line Internet communication linking the suburbs to
the inner city.
The
judges will select 10 winners based on such factors
as citizen participation, community leadership, regional
cooperation, civic education, and community vision and
pride.
The
Civic League lists New Orleans, with 1,308,955 inhabitants
in its metropolitan area, as the largest city competing,
while Fosston, Minn., with 1,529, is the smallest.
Although
New Orleans is not being judged on its gumbo, pralines
and coffee, the delegation brought plenty of samples
to share with competitors at a civic fair Friday night.
Whether
it brings home the prize or not, New Orleans is obviously
popular with competitors, who couldn't get enough Mardi
Gras beads, the most sought-after of city symbols among
delegates, who passed out pens and stickers to promote
their home towns.
On
a tour bus to Billy Bob's, a honky-tonk in Fort Worth's
stock yards, delegates bartered for beads and wore them
proudly on the dance floor as they learned the latest
crazes in country dancing.
"Folks
went wild over the beads," said Don West, a delegate
representing ERACE, a 600-member organization working
to promote racial interaction.
At
least 200 organizations contributed to New Orleans‚
entry. The entry represents seven parishes: Orleans,
Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist,
St. Charles and St. James.
"We
blend together well as one gumbo and we're unbeatable,"
Jefferson Parish Council Chairman Aaron Broussard said.
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