Pasco is finalist for the 'Nobel Prize' for city government

Pasco officials will go MIA in late June for a worthy cause.

They're headed to Denver to compete for the coveted All-America City designation.

The city is one of 19 finalists for the honor, given by the National Civic League to honor civic engagement.

Winners score bragging rights and the opportunity to display the All-America City shield-style logo.

The award dates to 1949 and is semi-jokingly referred to as the "Nobel Prize" for citizenship.

Richland is the only other local city to be named an All-America City. It won in 1960.

Mayor Matt Watkins and a team of civic leaders will travel to Denver to compete in a three-day conference. Ten cities will make the final cut.

Watkins said being a finalist is a sign of Pasco's commitment to civic engagement, even when it means confronting challenges.

He announced the honor Wednesday during the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce's annual "State of the Cities" program.

Pasco's only Northwest competitors are Tacoma and the Portland suburb of Beaverton.

The city was cited for its work to meet the challenge of explosive population growth and shifting demographics. Its population doubled to more than 70,000 in the past two decades, and its Latino population doubled too.

The citation doesn't shy away from recent challenges. It specifically calls out the high-profile shooting death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, an undocumented immigrant killed by police in 2015 as he threw rocks at a busy intersection.

And it addresses the city's struggle to refashion the city council to ensure better representation of its growing Latino population.

The citation points out the city's "We are Pasco"/"Somos Pasco" initiative to boost graduation rates and economic diversification, its pursuit of worthy community projects and the capitalizing on the city's multicultural population.

"The finalists share a common bond of working to create equitable communities through inclusive civic engagement," it noted.

Washington's All-America Cities include Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Yakima, Seattle, Port Angeles, Olympia, Leavenworth, Everett, Chewelah, Bellingham, Bellevue and Anacortes.

The 2018 finalists are detailed on the civic league's web site, nationalcivicleague.org/2018-finalists/. Twenty communities were named finalists but only 19 are competing in Denver.

This story was originally published May 28, 2018 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Pasco is finalist for the 'Nobel Prize' for city government."