Official Publication of the National League of Cities OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES
NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Volume 34, Number 24 | JuNe 20, 2011

IN THIS ISSUE
www.nlc.org
PAGE 2

PAGE 3
White House Highlights Value of
Interoperable Communications
PAGE 3
WIMG Conference Focuses on
Revenues, Cost Savings
PAGE 6
HD Committee Focuses on Budget,
Social Security, Education

NLC Celebrates Small Cities Week in Beulah, N.D.

by Amy Elsbree
NLC’s Small Cities Council Steering
Committee, accompanied by NLC
First Vice President Ted Ellis, mayor,
Bluffton, Ind., kicked off Small Cities
Week at the summer meeting of the
Small Cities Council in Beulah, N.D.,
last week.

NLC’s Small Cities Council Chair Clyde Schulz, council member, Beulah, N.D., signs a Small Cities
Week proclamation during the council’s meeting in Beulah./ Photo by Chris Erickson, Beulah Beacon
back to small-town America.”
NLC President James E. Mitchell Jr.,
who officially designated this week as
Small Cities Week, recently conducted
interviews with national media outlets,
including Comcast Newsmakers and
NLC TV, highlighting successful city
programs in cities such as Kingsport,
Tenn,. and Beach, N.D. (See related
story, page 4.)
“As city leaders, we all have a lot to
learn from our small city colleagues,”
said Mitchell. “One of the most valuable
things NLC offers members is the chance
to make that connection and take home
a new idea gleaned from another com-
munity’s experience.”
While in Beulah, the Small Cities
Council members toured the city to see
several successful city projects including a
new aquatic center, a school converted to
housing and community use and several
housing developments.

Details: For more information about
the Small Cities Council, contact Mae
Davis at mdavis@nlc.org.
NLC Joins Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
by Michael Karpman
Newspaper Handling
NLC has announced its commitment
to be a major partner in the Campaign
for Grade-Level Reading by supporting
city efforts to boost reading proficiency
as part of the National Civic League’s
2012 All-America City Awards compe-
tition.
The campaign is a collaborative,
10-year effort by dozens of foundations
and organizations across the country to
increase the number of low-income chil-
dren who read at grade level by the end
of third grade — a key developmental
milestone and indicator of future aca-
demic success.
At the opening celebration of the
All-America City Awards competition
on June 15 in Kansas City, Mo., the
National Civic League announced that
its 2012 Awards program will chal-
lenge applicant cities to develop collab-
orative, community-owned strategies for
improving grade-level reading. Through
its Institute for Youth, Education and
Families (YEF Institute), NLC will part-
ner with the National Civic League
to promote the Award and help cities
develop their plans.

The All-America City Awards
The National Civic League’s signa-
ture All-America City Awards program is
well known for recognizing outstanding
civic accomplishments in the nation’s
cities and towns. In 2012, the awards
will focus on communities that address
three major obstacles to reading profi-
ciency: a lack of school readiness among
younger children, chronic absences that
reduce the amount of instructional time
received, and summer learning loss in
which students lose ground academi-
cally in between school years.