City Manager Don Brown was recently honored with the statewide 1999 Managers Award for the Advancement of Diversity. Brown received the award on Feb. 5 from the city managers division of the League of California Cities.
"I'm very flattered," Brown said. "I see this as a community award more than an individual award because it recognizes an awful lot of people's efforts to have our community be a better place. It's really about the success of the community."
Brown was instrumental in working with the Public Dialogue Consortium to hold focus groups with members of the community and create the first community forum on diversity. Following the Town Hall meeting, he facilitated the formation of the Citizens of Cupertino Cross-Cultural Consortium (5Cs). Brown also lobbied to hire a community relations coordinator whose responsibility would be to bring neighborhoods together.
"I think the selection committee believed this was a terrific example of a difference a city manager can make when he gets involved in and supports programs," said Deborah Acosta, chair of the selection committee and Pleasanton city manager. "In particular, this is the kind of effort we all should be investing in to make sure the various individuals in our communities are coming together."
Cupertino, California Since 1947
