{"id":634,"date":"2007-06-16T06:59:27","date_gmt":"2007-06-16T13:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=634"},"modified":"2011-02-28T07:06:46","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T15:06:46","slug":"61607-editorial-all-america-city-it-really-is-a-big-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/?p=634","title":{"rendered":"(6\/16\/07) Editorial – All-America City – It Really IS a Big Deal!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

News Net All-America City Coverage<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

I admit it.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Just like some of you that I\u2019ve talked with over the last few days, I didn\u2019t see what the big deal was.\u00a0 What\u2019s the big deal about being an All-America City?\u00a0 I wanted somebody to tell me that it meant that we\u2019d see an increase in revenue for the City, maybe get the boys in blue the pay raise they\u2019ve deserved for too long.\u00a0 Or maybe that there would be an attendant rise in property values, because after all, \u201cWE\u2019RE AN ALL-AMERICA CITY.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we were named an All-America finalist last year, I thought, okay great.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t even get named something that I don\u2019t really get the big deal about anyway, we came in second.\u00a0 I was not the least bit excited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I tend to keep my mind open till I close it, and I knew that many of the people associated with last year\u2019s campaign were people I respect, and people who had\/have what I consider to be the best interests of this City at heart, so when this year\u2019s campaign was getting underway, I decided to be a part of it.\u00a0 For the first several months, I didn\u2019t do much, just published reports about upcoming rallies, etc.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t get into the nuts and bolts, didn\u2019t work with any of the committees, just showed up at the rallies, wrote my delegate check, now and then put a few words in the paper.<\/p>\n

As the competition approached, I got a little more involved.\u00a0 Decided I\u2019d be a part of the crew that went on stage, help with the presentation to the judges.\u00a0 Showed up for rehearsals, tried not to get in the way.\u00a0 Memorized my lines, then had them given to others, so I stopped memorizing them, figuring I\u2019d wait till we were closer to the final rehearsal, and memorize them then.\u00a0 Helped with a re-write of one section of the script, only to be warned \u201cif you do good at this, next time you\u2019ll be one of the first ones we come to for help with the script.\u201d\u00a0 Oh great.<\/p>\n

I guess because I\u2019ve taken a picture or two of town activities over the years, I was asked if I could help with a video\/slideshow that was to be shown at a booth at the competition.\u00a0 I said sure, and threw together something that I hoped wouldn\u2019t be an embarrassment to the City.\u00a0 But I still didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 As much fun as it was to spend that time re-experiencing these town events through the photos and videos, and being reminded of all the things that make this town so special, I still didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 In fact, the last night before the conference began, when I saw the final script, and saw that I now had just one sentence to say, I couldn\u2019t believe I had disrupted my life so drastically, three days worth, for just one line.\u00a0 And one of those days was a deadline day, which meant trying to get things done from Anaheim on a laptop, instead of at home where everything I need can be accessed with a click of the mouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I say, I didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Now I do, and couldn\u2019t be happier that I did disrupt my life for those three, very important days.\u00a0 And I would do it again, without a single line.\u00a0 Because it\u2019s not about lines, or being the one to express the right words to the judges that makes them decide to vote for your town.\u00a0 It\u2019s about community, and working together for the benefit of the town we all live in.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it\u2019s been said recently that some of the people who volunteer in this town do it because they like to see their name in the paper.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help but wonder if maybe the people who say things like that are judging others by their own standards and sentiments.\u00a0 The people who were a part of this delegation worked so hard, did so much, and not once was there any intimation that any of the people involved were working for their own glory, or to get recognition, in the paper or otherwise.\u00a0 Not even just to be recognized by their peers.\u00a0 No one I spoke with who was thanked by anyone in my presence for their efforts wanted to hear a word of it.\u00a0 They basically deflected everything to the other members of the team.\u00a0 \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t do anything, did you see (fill in the name), and how well he\/she did what he\/she did?\u201d<\/p>\n

This event wasn\u2019t about personal glory or recognition.\u00a0 This event was about everybody pulling together to do something positive for our hometown.\u00a0 I can\u2019t emphasize enough that word, positive.\u00a0 Positive.\u00a0 Everything about this event was positive.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, we were competing.\u00a0 But we wanted everyone to win, as long as we did, too.\u00a0 The National Civic League created a forum to build community, and it worked. As Mayor Joffe said in her acceptance speech, \u201cI feel like we all have sixty new friends in this delegation, and hundreds of you out there who are now our friends, too.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 There were people in this delegation that I knew, but now I know them better.\u00a0 There were people I didn\u2019t know, but now I know them.\u00a0 We have a shared experience, working together, as a team, to bring recognition to our City, and will always have that memory and that collective affection and appreciation for the work that we did together.\u00a0 A sense of community.<\/p>\n

But we also became a larger community, getting to know the delegates and delegations from other cities.\u00a0 Learning that all of our small town communities (and larger ones, too) face problems, and that in each of these towns, there are people who, just like in Sierra Madre, pull together for the good of the town.\u00a0 As delegate Cathy Ryne said \u201cIsn\u2019t it nice that the people of the cities we \u201chung out\u201d with also won? Yea- Clinton, Dubuque\u2026Polk County with the great black hats, Hickory and Hollywood Florida with the medical van. They were so nice and fun to be with. It\u2019s fun to be winners with them!!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Participating in this competition placed Sierra Madre on a national stage, and by winning, we showed that Sierra Madre, small as it is, deserves to be recognized as a community of worth, the equal of any other community in this country.\u00a0 Some towns flew fifty delegates coast to coast to participate.\u00a0 I\u2019m told some towns spent $100,000 dollars on their participation.\u00a0 As I understand it, Sierra Madre spent about $13,000, reportedly all but about $1,000 of which was from donations.<\/p>\n

Former City Manager John Gillison sent a congratulatory message to members of the delegation, saying \u201cYou all deserve to be very proud of what you worked so hard for.\u00a0 In true Sierra Madre fashion you pulled together and proved again that what you have in common is stronger than what divides you, and the whole truly is so much more than the sum of the parts.\u00a0 You should rightfully be very proud and do not let anyone who was not there or does not appreciate the magnitude of what you accomplished take this away from you.\u00a0 It truly is the first of many great stories that will mark the next 100 years.\u00a0 Happy Birthday to all my friends in the wonderful City of Sierra of Madre.<\/p>\n

Now, Sierra Madre has been through some divisive times lately.\u00a0 Some of us haven\u2019t been getting along.\u00a0 Gillison\u2019s heartfelt congratulation message alludes to the possibility that there may be some who don\u2019t want to acknowledge what the group that brought this national recognition to Sierra Madre has actually done for our small town.\u00a0\u00a0 The fact of the matter is, Gillison actually addresses one of the reasons why people might feel that way, to my mind.\u00a0 Never having been there, I didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think that anyone who hasn\u2019t been there really can properly appreciate its magnitude. They probably CAN\u2019T get it.\u00a0 But this is a big deal.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very big deal.\u00a0 I know.\u00a0 I was there.\u00a0 I saw.\u00a0 And if you weren\u2019t there, and you didn\u2019t see, I don\u2019t expect you to get it.\u00a0 But please recognize that there is a possibility that even if you don\u2019t get it, now, you might, if you get involved next time, and you go, and you see.\u00a0 That\u2019s what happened to me.\u00a0 It could happen to you.\u00a0 So get it or not, try to help to mend the fences, try to help re-build the community.\u00a0 Congratulate your neighbors, congratulate the delegates, feel good about yourself and your town.\u00a0 This award was given to the entire community, because it was the entire community that created the YAC, the Senior Housing, and addressed the open space issue.\u00a0 Even if you voted against these ideas, you were still a vital part of the process of determining what the community wanted.\u00a0 And the community, working together, even with some disagreement, completed these projects that won us this award.\u00a0 Let\u2019s use winning this award as a rallying point for healing our community.\u00a0 Because community is what this award is all about.<\/p>\n

We are coming up on one of Sierra Madre\u2019s favorite traditions, 4th of July.\u00a0 Let\u2019s enjoy the festivities without the animosity.\u00a0 We are celebrating our Centennial.\u00a0 That\u2019s one hundred years of community.\u00a0 Let\u2019s enjoy the Centennial festivities without the animosity.\u00a0 Let\u2019s work together to find a solution to the fiscal problems we face, and address the issues that confront us, such as finding more money for the police.\u00a0 Let\u2019s work together, as a community to address these issues, and enjoy the process, without animosity.\u00a0 We used to be able to disagree with one another, and still respect each other enough to work together to find common ground.\u00a0 That\u2019s how we\u2019ve survived 100 years.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how we became an All-America City.\u00a0 Let\u2019s work to find that ability again.\u00a0 Let\u2019s prove again that, as Gillison stated, what we have in common is stronger than what divides us, and that the whole truly is so much more than the sum of the parts.\u00a0 Let\u2019s celebrate who we are and what we do, even if one of the things we do is to sometimes disagree.\u00a0 Because, as Dereck Okuba of the National Civic League said about communities, \u201cit\u2019s like families, there\u2019s no such thing as perfect families, every family has its issues\u2026.a lot of it is that level of belief that is there, that mindset of what is possible, that mindset of spending the energy, not on who\u2019s to blame, and who can I point that finger on, but what can we do together to address that issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

SO CONGRATULATIONS TO SIERRA MADRE.<\/p>\n

WE ARE AN ALL-AMERICA CITY!!<\/p>\n

AND IT\u2019S A VERY BIG DEAL!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Net All-America City Coverage I admit it.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Just like some of you that I\u2019ve talked with over the last few days, I didn\u2019t see what the big deal was.\u00a0 What\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[64,53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}