With this year’s Municipal Excellence Awards, the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) honored five cities putting creative ideas to use for their communities.
“This year’s projects demonstrate some of the ways that Washington’s city leaders are applying innovative solutions to their diverse needs,” said Peter B. King, AWC CEO. “I hope these will be a source of ideas and inspiration throughout the state.”
Chosen from 25 applications, the 2020 AWC Municipal Excellence Award winners include the City of Pasco for its African American historic properties project.
East Pasco in the Tri-Cities area was home to the majority of African American residents who helped shape the early development of the city and worked on the Hanford Site, but many historically significant sites were lost in a phase of urban renewal in the 1980s. With help from a state grant, the city began documenting and preparing key heritage properties in the area to be submitted to the National Register of Historic Places. A City-produced video project captured interviews and stories from longtime residents that will highlight and preserve the unique and important aspects of daily life in the community and honor the struggle against the overt racism of the era.
“This honorable award demonstrates the importance of our heritage in Pasco and the great people that work to remember and learn from our past to improve the quality of life for our future,” said Pasco Mayor Saul Martinez.
AWC’s Municipal Excellence Awards recognize innovative city projects that significantly improve the quality of life for their communities. The competition is open each year to any Washington city or town. Projects are being recognized at AWC’s Annual Conference Online the week of June 22.
The City of Pasco strives to continue improving the quality of community life in Pasco.