LEWISTON – The trick for delegates to the All America City competition this year will be getting city government to step out of the way and letting the rest of the community shine through.

“What the judges really look for is how the community as a whole is involved,” said Phil Nadeau, assistant city administrator. “They want good government. That’s fine as a part of it, but they want to see what’s behind it.”

A group of 14 Lewiston delegates will fly to Anaheim, Calif., on June 5 to compete for the title of All America City.

The National Civic League, which created the award, said it demonstrates national recognition for hard work and civic pride. The group typically names 10 cities as All America Cities each year. They claim each city gets a public relations boost with the status, resulting in more tourism and new business investment.

Lewiston competed last year, taking a group of 27 to the contest to tout the city’s youth involvement, economic development and integration of new Somali immigrants. They didn’t win, but learned later that they were close.

Nadeau said he was initially against entering the contest again this year.

“We put a lot of work, a lot of spirit and effort into last year, and I couldn’t imagine doing it again,” he said. His views began to change when they received the judges comments on their program as well as copies of the winning communities applications.

“What we thought was one of our strongest points – economic development at the Southern Gateway – actually turned out to be one of the weakest,” he said. City government was too involved in that for the judges’ liking.

The result has been a shorter, punchier application focusing on three different programs – Lots to Gardens, the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council and the city’s low-income tax preparation program. All depend on volunteer efforts.

“The common thing running beneath all of the winning applications was civic engagement, how well the people from outside City Hall’s walls get involved,” Nadeau said. “So, we made that our entire application. We have a lot of good things happening, but we picked things that really have an impact from volunteers.”