11-30-2010 South Bend wins Gold Award for Municipal Excellence

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Medical Center site, now likely to be the home to a new St. Joseph’s High School. “When City government works with excellent partners, the results speak for themselves,” said Luecke, who will receive the award Dec. 3 in Denver at the League’s annual Congress of Cities & Exposition at the Colorado Convention Center. “This prestigious recognition from our peer cities across the nation speaks to the quality of the transformation that is taking place in our Northeast Neighborhood and throughout South Bend. When we bring together public and private sectors, the City and the University, neighbors and institutions, we achieve golden results. This is an exciting time for South Bend.” In receiving the award in the 50,001-150,000 population category, Luecke will be accompanied by Timothy Sexton, president of the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization and associate vice president for public affairs at the University of Notre Dame; Marguerite Taylor, a neighborhood resident and officer with the Northeast th Neighborhood Council; and City Council member Ann Puzzello, whose 4 district includes the Northeast Neighborhood. The NNRO included representatives of the City of South Bend, the Northeast Neighborhood Council, the University of Notre Dame, Memorial Hospital, Madison Center and Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center. More recently, South Bend Clinic has become a supporting institution. South Bend Heritage Foundation provided staff support for the NNRO. South Bend was among four Gold winners in four population categories, while four other cities received Silver awards. There were 16 finalists in the 50,001-150,000 population category and 45 finalists overall in four population categories. At the NLC Congress of Cities & Exposition, South Bend’s award-winning project will be on display in the exposition hall – one of 34 communities invited to display information about their innovative projects before the 2,500 participants. As a Gold winner, South Bend will receive an award of $2,000, which will be donated to a community non-profit of the city’s choice. Previously known as the James C. Howland Award, the National League of Cities’ Gold Award for Municipal Excellence was also presented to the City of South Bend in 2002 for its work with South Bend Heritage Foundation for the Near West Side Neighborhood Revitalization. The National League of Cities is the nation’s oldest and largest organization devoted to strengthening and promoting cities as centers of opportunity, leadership and governance. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans. # # #