Hampton recognizes residents and partners who contributed to 2025 All-America City application

Hampton City Council on Oct. 25 recognized residents, educators, nonprofit leaders and city staff who contributed to the city’s 2025 All-America City application and public presentation.

Vice Mayor Brown and Deputy City Manager Brian McKeel led the recognitions, naming individuals who helped document Hampton’s community resilience work and prepare materials for the national competition. McKeel said the honorees “shared their expertise, their lived experiences, and their community leadership,” and that their contributions helped present Hampton as an “authentic, innovative, and resilient community.”

Those recognized included Olivia Skuh, Hampton’s resilience specialist, who McKeel said tied together city projects such as Lake Hampton, Big Bethel, Blue Way and Armistead Avenue as part of a “living with water” strategy; Velva Goodman, a Briarfield neighborhood resident and early participant in the Dutch Dialogues process who helped keep neighbors informed about flood issues; Wendy Isles of the Hampton City Clean City Commission, noted for environmental stewardship activities including oyster gardening and community cleanups; Betsy McAllister, a STEM teacher with Hampton City Schools who partnered on an oyster restoration program; Claire Neubert, co-founder of Shored Up LLC, who worked with students on the oyster program; Mary Carson Stiff, CEO of Wetlands Watch, whose staff supported work in Aberdeen Gardens and whose organization joined the delegation to Denver; and Ann Marie Dwire, the city’s graphic designer, credited with producing visual materials used in the city’s presentation.

Speakers emphasized that the recognition reflected a broad coalition of neighbor-to-neighbor efforts, school-based education, nonprofit support and city staff work. McKeel noted that some contributors who helped prepare the application did not travel to Denver with the delegation but were integral to the submission. He also acknowledged that Olivia Skuh did not attend because she had welcomed a new child shortly before the presentation.

The council’s remarks framed the award as recognition of ongoing resilience work rather than a discrete new policy. Vice Mayor Brown said resilience in Hampton involved “green and gray and brown infrastructure” and thanked volunteers and partners for their contributions. No formal council actions or votes on policy or funding were recorded during the recognition.

The ceremony concluded with thanks to the honorees and a short recess before the council’s 6:30 p.m. legislative session.