KINGMAN, Ariz. — The historic town in Northwest Arizona now has the distinction of being named the 2019 "Nicest Place in Arizona," by Reader's Digest.
The city received two nominations for the honor, which Reader's Digest considered when making their selections for the "50 Nicest Places in America."
"Gratifying because this is the authentic Kingman," Mayor Jen Miles said a few days after learning of the distinction. Miles used the word gratifying partially because of how much the city's reputation was harmed by an incident that played out on a national stage.
Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen featured the city in what turned out to be an unfavorable depiction of its residents during his Showtime series "Who is America?"
The ugly incident tainted the city's reputation because of the outwardly racist comments made by residents in what they thought was a public meeting to discuss the building of a new mosque.
"I can only say that my feeling on that was it was a contrived story and did not reflect the authentic Kingman. I think this story is much authentic to who we are," Mayor Miles said.