Moody city councilman Phillip Deason takes exactly zero credit for any recognition his city may soon receive.

“I put all the information together, but I didn’t really do anything,” he said.

Instead, Deason says he hopes the spotlight will shine on the entire city of Moody: the Alabama League of Municipalities recently notified the city it would be receiving the 2010 Municipal Quality of Life Award at the ALM’s annual convention in Mobile this spring.

“It is a big feather in our cap to have that,” mayor Joe Lee said Friday.

Deason said he, Lee and council member Linda Crowe decided to apply for the award before Christmas. The main attraction in their application: the Moody Miracle League facility, designed for special-needs athletes and their families at the Moody recreation park.

“(The city) had foresight several years ago to get a beautiful park,” Deason said. “The best one in the county, in my opinion. When the Miracle League came along, it was a good fit and the outpouring of the whole city and other cities within the county, and the county as a whole got behind us. All those special-needs players and parents, that’s what it’s there for.

“Did it increase the Quality of Life? I’d say yes, but I think the parents would definitely say it has. It’s good for the city as a whole, but it’s good for the citizens and the people who take advantage of it.”

The Quality of Life award, according to a letter the city received from the League, honors “outstanding projects in local government” so that it may share “those success stories with other municipalities.” The letter notes that Ken Gabehart, of the ALM staff, will be in Moody soon to orchestrate a video shoot.

Deason says he merely wants to promote the city and the Miracle League.

“When you pick up the paper, all you hear is stuff about politics and the economy and it seems like it’s always a negative spin,” he said. “For a city to be recognized by the state, that you’ve acquired something that improves the quality of life, how can you not be excited about that? It speaks volumes about what a city can do, and those that don’t want to reach out think about things that can improve the quality for the citizens, you’re holding a whole city back.

“I’d rather (the spotlight) shine on the city as a whole, and the Miracle League as a whole.”