DEARBORN - The Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency-Dearborn was filled with members and guests of the Michigan Municipal League's 112th Annual Convention Awards Banquet on Thursday night.

The highlight of the evening was the annual awards presentation. Among the honorees:

Special Awards of Merit to Detroit Councilmember Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr.; MSHDA Interim Executive Director Gary Heidel; and Muskegon Commissioner Clara Shepherd.

Legislator of the Year Awards to Representative Ed Clemente (D-Lincoln Park); Representative Doug Geiss (D-Taylor); and Representative joe Haveman (R-Holland).

Michael A. Guido Leadership and Public Service Award to Sault Sainte Marie Mayor Anthony "Tony" Bosbous.

Jim Sinclair Exceptional Service Award to Hastings Mayor Robert L. May.

Honorary Life Membership Award to Grand Blanc Mayor Michael Matheny.

Outgoing MML Board President Jeff Jenks introduced incoming MML Board President Carol Shafto, who presented Jenks with an honorary gavel commemorating his year of service to the League and its efforts on behalf of all of Michigan's communities and residents.

Another great year for League members! Congratulations, everyone!

Sam Singh, Senior Policy Consultant, Public Policy Associates talked to the Michigan Association of Mayors luncheon Thursday on the New Economy Initiative.

The strategy focuses on building an entrepreneurial ecosystem (growing our own businesses); capitalizing on existing assets and resources; connecting to the global community; supporting a workforce strategy based on a sectoral approach; and building a regional workforcesystem.

We should focus on the industries of manufacturing, alternativeenergy,homeland security, health care and transportation distribution and logistics as the industries with the most potential for growth here in Michigan.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero also stopped by to talk about the challenges facing Michigan's cities, villages and townships and how state government needs to develop a "customer service" approach to dealing with its local municipalities.

Utica Mayor Jacqueline Noonan was formally elected MAM President for the coming year.

Steve Tobocman, one of the driving forces of the Global Detroit initiative is a guest speaker at the League Convention on multiculturalism. During his morning introductory speech, Tobocman revealed some hard facts to dispel many of the current myths surrounding America's "immigration problem."

Here are just a few:

According to national statistics on violent crime, some of the nation's safest cities are San Diego, Phoenix, El Paso and Austin -- all in border states.

In fact, the incarceration rate among immigrants is 1/5 that of U.S. born residents.

Immigrants are three times as likely to start a business in Michigan, and 1.89 times as likely in the rest of the U.S.

37% of immigrants are college-educated, compared to 23.7% of non-immigrants.

Immigrants in college are three times as likely to be majoring in science, technology, engineering and math.

32.8% of all high-tech firms in Michigan were started by immigrants, ranking Michigan third in the nation.

Studies in Baltimore showed immigrants are essential to stabilizing inner city populations and keep cities vital moving into the future.

These are important messages in a time when fear and emotion-based reasoning have replaced facts in the national dialogue on immigration, said Tobocman.

Convention goers will hear more about how multiculturalism can help drive Michigan's future during a breakout session today.

Dearborn Mayor John. B. O'Reilly and DPW Director James Murray showed Convention visitors how their city saved more than $6 million and got new roads and sewer lines in the bargain, by rethinking the way they were meeting federal mandates to reduce pollution in the Rouge River.

The city had originally embarked on a $300 million plan to construct 12 massive caissons - but when construction challenges stalled three of them, the city had the courage and wisdom to fold those cards and go in another direction in 2009, redesigning some of the caisson sites and changing tactics to a more traditional sewer separation approach in other parts of the city. The sewer separation project underway now in one neighborhood was originally going to cost $10 million but they were able to get the price down even cheaper, to about $8.5 million. That's about $6 million less than they would've spent, said O'Reilly, while giving them all kinds of added benefits including new concrete curb-and-gutter roads and sewer lines.

Meanwhile, one successfully redesigned caisson site will soon be completed with a return to natural wetlands and native vegetation, next door to one of the city's upscale neighborhoods.

And of course: all the efforts are helping to clean up and protect the Rouge River, now the site of an annual fishing derby, kayak races, picnic areas, playscapes and natural areas. Kudos to the kind of homework, vision and planning it took to make this a reality. Thanks for adding this bus tour to the Convention line-up!