A well-deserved honor for a Scenic Alabama friend

I first met Bill Brinton on a trip to Atlanta to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc hearing on a lawsuit that a billboard company had filed against the city of Hoover. Bill is an attorney based in Jacksonville, Florida, and is on the board of Scenic America. He also serves on the American Planning Association's amicus committee, and had written an amicus brief for the appeal that Scenic Alabama signed on to.

I was impressed not only with his knowledge of sign and billboard issues, but also with his very personable style. He is generous with his time and expertise, and has been a good friend to Scenic Alabama and to me personally.

Bill was given the first ever Prize for Civic Engagement by the Community Foundation in Jacksonville this week, for his decades of tireless work to protect trees, fight billboard blight and improve communities. The press release from the foundation has many details (some of which I learned for the first time!) about how his life's work has made his community, and really our country, a better place to live. (Excerpts below, click here for full release.)

It's folks like Bill Brinton that give us the encouragement to keep fighting the forces of blight and ugliness - and to make our little corner of the world a beautiful place. Congratulations, Bill!

JACKSONVILLE, Florida - The Community Foundation in Jacksonville awarded the first Prize for Civic Engagement to Jacksonville attorney William D. Brinton during the Foundation's annual meeting Tuesday, September 25, 2007.

The Prize for Civic Engagement recognizes and encourages citizens in Northeast Florida who speak out courageously for the common good on matters of civic importance....

In 1987, [Brinton] spearheaded a petition drive to put a strong billboard ban on the ballot for vote by the citizens; it passed by a landslide. In 1990, he organized an initiative that successfully placed a two-term limit on Jacksonville City Council members. And in 2000, he launched yet another petition drive calling for developers to plant, or pay to plant, a tree for every one of a certain size they cut down. It, too, won by a landslide.

...Sherry Magill, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund [said], "We are so mired in our roles as taxpayers that we forget to think about our roles as citizens…. Bill Brinton is a true citizen hero. He keeps the dream of active citizenship alive." ....

Brinton ...serves on the board of directors of Scenic America, Inc., based in Washington, D.C., and is the present and past chair of Scenic America's Billboard Control Committee. He is the co-founder of Citizens for a Scenic Florida, Inc. and Scenic Jacksonville, Inc. He served as chairman of the Jacksonville Landscape Commission. In 2005, Brinton received Jacksonville Community Council, Inc.'s first Milestone Award for Citizen Advocacy in recognition of his efforts over the past three decades.