Mount Pleasant named a Top 10 All-America City

It might technically be a town, but Mount Pleasant was named a Top 10 All-America City on Friday.

The winners were announced by the National Civic League at the 61st annual All-America City awards in Kansas City, Mo. Town officials said the distinction can be used as a marketing tool.

To claim the title, each community had to demonstrate “innovation, inclusiveness, civic engagement, and cross-sector collaboration by describing successful efforts to address pressing local challenges,” according to league officials.

2010 All-American Cities
Chandler, Ariz.
Lynwood, Calif.
Rancho Cordova, Calif.
North Miami, Fla.
Acworth, Ga.
Des Moines, Iowa
Salisbury, Md.
Gastonia, N.C.
Mount Pleasant
El Paso, Texas

“These were communities who demonstrated good governance on a daily basis,” Deputy Town Administrator Eric DeMoura said of the winners.

In naming Mount Pleasant to the Top 10 list, the Denver-based National Civic League cited the town’s Johnnie Dodds Boulevard Mobility Study, Coleman Boulevard Revitalization Plan and the Weaving Aquatic Training with Education and Recreation program.

Mount Pleasant was one of 27 communities named in April as a finalist for the award. Mayor Billy Swails donated his $25,000 salary and local businesses and individuals raised more than $18,000 for the town’s campaign, according to Martine Wolfe-Miller, Mount Pleasant’s public information officer.

Part of that funding was used to pay for sending the delegation of 41 to Kansas City.

Mount Pleasant became the 11th All-America winner from South Carolina and the first since 2006. Previous award winners are:

* Richland County (2006)
* Georgetown County (2005)
* Orangeburg County (2005)
* Anderson County (2000)
* Aiken (1997)
* Hartsville (1996)
* Charleston (1977-78)
* Rock Hill (1969)
* Florence (1965)
* Columbia (1951, 1964)