2022 CivicCon Awards And Holiday Celebration Event

18 North Palafox Street,Pensacola FL 32502

05 December, 2022

Description

The 2022 CivicCon Awards honor community membrers that have taken ideas from the world-class experts that have appeared in the CivicCon speaker series and put them into action to benefit the quality of life in our community. This year's winners will be revealed on Monday, Dec. 5 . CivicCon Sustaining Members are special guests at the ceremony but the event is also open to the public. We ask for a donation of any amount to benefit CivicCon but a donation is not required to attend. The CivicCon Awards event has a holiday theme and includes appetizers and holiday music. Attendees must RSVP on Eventbrite and show a ticket at the door as space is limited. You also can nominate people from our community to recieve a CivicCon Award. Nominations can be made through October14 via email to [email protected]. or by going to this link: https://pnjpoll.survey.fm/2022-civiccon-awards The nomination should indicate the specific award, the nominee and why the nominee deserves the award. In addition, the name and contact info for the nominator and the person being nominated should be included. Below is the list of awards that will be presented on Dec. 5. Placemaking Award This represents the work of an individual or an organization to create a great public space for anyone in the community to enjoy. The nominee can be from the public or private sector. If from the private sector, then the availability of the space for the public shouldn’t be linked directly to being a patron. The best placemaking usually results in others following with private investment to continue to lift the immediate area, block or neighborhood. Past CivicCon speakers Ed McMahon, Charles Montgomery, Peter Kageyama, Gena Wirth from SCAPE and others have given inspiration for great placemaking and the community benefits for quality of life and economic prosperity. The 2021 winner was the Palafox Market Vendors for providing their energy, talents and participation to make Saturday mornings special for the community at the Downtown Improvement Business board's Palafox Market. Environmental Award Work by an individual or organization that results in better water or air for a part or all the community. The award could also be for working for more public trees either in a neighborhood or for the community at large or for efforts to clean up an environmentally damaged area within Escambia and/or Santa Rosa counties. Those nominated may have drawn inspiration from Lyssa Hall, Dr. Bill Fisher or Gina Wirth and the SCAPE team. The two 2021 award winners were: Ocean Hour, who turns out dozens of volunteers each month to clean up ur coastal and estuary waterways; and Ally Atchison, a then-7th grader at Brown Barge Middle School, for her work to make other young people at adults aware of the future of our environment. Great Neighborhoods Award Who has done the most to improve a neighborhood, strengthen a neighborhood association or help others launch their neighborhood association? The late Jay Walljasper, an early CivicCon speaker, leaves a trail of ideas and examples of neighborhoods getting better (as did Ed McMahon, Charles Montgomery and Peter Kageyama). The 2021 winner was Rand Hicks, the past president of CNAPP (the Coalition of Neighborhood Association Presidents of Pensacola), for his effort to help residents start new neighborhood associations in parts of the community that had seen them go dormant or were never represented. Safe Streets And People-Centered Transportation Award Jeff Speck is a major voice for makes streets walkable and safe for pedestrians. Mikael Colville-Andersen has earned the title “the Pope of Urban Cycling.” Both were CivicCon speakers that taught that streets are for people and not cars – cars just share the space with pedestrians and people on bicycles. Narrow the lanes and lower speed limits and everyone is safer. Who leads in these areas in our community? The two 2021 winners were: Zac Lane, the advocacy coordinator for Bike Pensacola; and Mike Kilmer and the West Cervantes Coalition for its determination to influence a better safety and neighborhood character outcome from the Florida Department of Transportation for a 2.1 mile stretch of West Cervantes Street, which had seen many pedestrian and bicycle rider fatalities over the previous decade. Government Transparency Award So many CivicCon speakers are proponents of local government not hiding what it is doing but rather inviting community members into the process and listening to their wisdom. It started with Gov. Bob Graham and continued with James Fallows, Joe Riley and most recently Valerie Lemmie. Is it a local government staff member, an elected official, a journalist or an organization that deserves this award? The two 2021 winners were: Grover Robinson, the outgoing Pensacola mayor, for fullfilling his promise of weekly press conferences as a way to promote transparency in government; and Dr. Karen Barber, Santa Rosa Superintendent of Schools for her high standard of transparency on the district's website throughout the pandemic. The Equity Award We have heard talk about “equality” in our country for generations. Only recently has the conversation become louder for “equity.” CivicCon attendees have learned the critical difference and seen great examples from CivicCon speakers such as Emily Talen, Jill Miller and Mardia Shands. Who has done the most to forward equity in our community? The five winners in 2021 were: Sandra Donaldson, chief equity advocacy offer for Community Health Northwest Florida; Sylvia Tisdale and her homeless ministry at the Epps Christian Center; Troy Rafferty, who has been a leader in supporting youth sports and other activities in lower-income neighborhoods as well being a strong supporter of Mr. Robbins Neighborhood; the Cantonment Improvement Committee, for exemplifying how members of a neighborhood can have a huge positive influence on neighbors that need assistance; and Julian and Kim MacQueen, who have put their money where their heart is, not just funding but also leading a number of initiatives to improve the quality of life and outcomes for the community's children. Best New Addition To Downtown Pensacola Award Downtown’s turnaround hasn’t been a one-person achievement. Each new inspired addition to the downtown landscape has added up all together into a downtown that keeps getting better and better. Some of these were new construction and some were key reclamation projects. Who should be credited with the best new addition to downtown in 2021? The two 2021 winners were: The owners of The Well, a destinage vintage Floridian lounge downtown, and Mike Carro and Scott Sallis for the improvements to The Garden, the airstream restaurant pod at Main and Palafox streets. The Strong Towns Award Chuck Marohn, founder of Strong Towns, holds the honor of being the first CivicCon speaker. He still travels around the country teaching the good sense of in-fill projects in vacant or underutilized space and the good sense it makes to take advantage of existing sewer and water and utility infrastructure rather than pushing into suburban areas requiring community investment and ultimately additional infrastructure maintenance costs. Who has done something that Chuck Marohn and Strong Towns would tout? The two 2021 winners were: The developers of Savoy Place, a new apartment building on vacant land (which follows the in-fill mantra of Strong Towns) and aDoor Properties, a builder that has done more in-fill housing in our community than anyone (also investing in low-income areas often avoided by other builders). The Founding Member Award One of our CivicCon Founding Members will be recognized for consistent attendance and involvement with the CivicCon Speaker Series, the Civic Engagement Courses or community involvement that has been inspired by CivicCon. There are many loyal members. Let us know who you think deserves special recognition. The two 2021 winners were: Theresa Blackwell, an effective advocate for Beulah and a long-time CivicCon attendee, and Camille Bonner, who has been a vocal champion of the CivicCon speaker series on social media and comes to every event. The CivicCon Award This award is for an individual that best embodies the spirit of civic engagement and shows an appreciation for learning best practices and dedication to improving the quality of life for others. The three 2021 winners were: Christian Wagley, who was instrumental in getting the CivicCon speaker series off the ground 5 years ago as a volunteer; Jared Moore, a Pensacola city council member, who said he was inspired to run for office after attending the first year of the Civiccon speaker series; and receiving the award posthumously was Dottie Dubuisson, who was a regular CivicCon event attendee and was a fixture at public meetings to hold public officials accountable. This March event with Chuck Marohn, founder and president of the nonprofit Strong Towns, was one of a dozen CivicCon speaker and town hall events in 2022 and the among the 60 CivicCon events over the past five years.