Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Denton wins Texas Municipal League award for Going Green

By Pegasus News wire

The City of Denton was recently selected as a winner of a Texas Municipal League (TML) Municipal Excellence Award. The City won the City Spirit category for the Going Green with the City booklet created by the Economic Development Department. The Denton City Council accepted the award on Wednesday, October 29th at TML’s Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The TML Municipal Excellence Awards recognize and encourage the achievements of Texas cities in meeting the challenge of municipal government. The awards program seeks out the best Texas cities that have demonstrated success in innovative problem solving, excellence in management, increasing citizen participation, and reaching higher service levels.

The TML Municipal Excellence Awards competition is divided into two population categories to allow cities to compete with other cities of comparable size. The population categories are: cities less than 25,000 population and cities over 25,000. Within each of the two population categories there are five subject categories: management innovations, communication programs, city spirit, public safety, and public works.

The Denton Economic Development Department holds a quarterly Mayor and City Council breakfast where the speaker or topic addressed is one that raises awareness in the community. Because the City has taken the lead in environmental awareness for our community with green initiatives, programs and education, “going green” was at the top of the list for topics. When putting together materials for the program, it was discovered that a single resource that directly matched City programs to the needs of the community did not exist.

The Going Green with the City booklet was created by Economic Development to address this need. It covers everything from air pollution to Xeriscaping. In addition to listing resources available to the public by the City, the 12 page booklet covers basic environmental terminology and outlines simple steps that can be implemented at home, at work, on the go and in your own yard.

“Going Green with the City is a great resource for residents to learn about recycling programs as well as other environmental programs offered by the City, in an easy to read booklet,” said Mayor Mark Burroughs. “Economic Development did a wonderful job creating a comprehensive resource for the community, and the fact that it is receiving this prestigious award demonstrates that our peers in other cities agree.”

The Going Green with the City booklet is available on the City’s website (www.cityofdenton.com) and in print (on recycled paper of course!) at the Economic Development office and the Denton Chamber of Commerce.

Since its formation in 1913, TML’s mission has been to serve the needs and advocate the interests of Texas cities. The TML constitution states that the purpose of the League is to “render services which individual cities have neither time, money nor strength to do alone.” TML also represents the interests of member cities before state and federal legislative, administrative, and judicial bodies at the state and federal levels; and, conducts an annual conference and other educational events to facilitate the study and exchange of information on relevant city government issues.

Posted by Erin

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