Keep Pharr Beautiful application scores 90.5; city earns Award of Excellence

At the July 2025 Keep Pharr Beautiful Advisory Board meeting, Elizabeth Diaz, the city's grants director, said Pharr's 2025 Keep Texas Beautiful application scored 90.5 out of 100 and earned an Award of Excellence from the program's reviewers. Diaz presented judges' comments and section-by-section scores and outlined areas for improvement.

The score represented a 10.5-point increase from the city's 2024 application (80 of 100). Judges gave the city full credit in the application conclusion and 10'to'11 points across leadership, public awareness, education, beautification and litter-cleanup categories; solid waste management scored 9 of 12. Diaz read judge feedback urging the city to expand partnerships, collect more contamination and engagement data, delineate education programming by grade and add specifics to printed outreach materials.

The award and feedback matter because Keep Texas Beautiful affiliate status and the Texas Governor's Community Achievement Award (a TxDOT-funded program within that umbrella) inform grant-eligibility and recognition at the state level. Cynthia Castro, assistant director for Parks and Recreation, said the city currently holds silver affiliate status and is aiming for gold. Board members thanked Diaz and department directors for coordinating cross-department information-sharing that she said helped raise the score.

City staff said they will continue collecting 2025 data for the next application cycle and plan to act on judges' suggestions: strengthen partnerships (especially with youth and school programs), improve printed outreach, and implement routine data-tracking to measure program impact. Diaz said the team shared the feedback with department directors and is working now to address the specific rubric items cited by reviewers.

Board members said they expect staff to return with concrete changes before the next application period.