WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The Excellence in Public/Private Partnership Awards recognizing outstanding partnerships between cities and companies will be conferred at a luncheon led by Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. as part of USCMs 68^th Winter Meeting.  Mayors and their private partners from 22 cities will receive awards or special recognition.

The luncheon is scheduled for January 27, 2000 from Noon to 2:00 PM at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.  In addition to Cianci, who serves as chair of the Mayors and Business Community Task Force, Denver Mayor and Conference President Wellington E. Webb, and Seattle Mayor and Host of the Mayors June Annual Meeting Paul Schell are scheduled to participate.

In announcing the award, Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran remarked, "All of these partnerships share in common a synergy that brought positive changes in the ways city services are delivered.  In recent years, in city after city, we have seen how partnerships have resulted in new and creative approaches to solving some of the most intractable problems faced by cities.  These Public/Private Partnership award winners can inspire other cities and companies to work together to improve the quality of life for all city residents."

At the luncheon, the Conference will release a "Public/Private Partnership Awards Best Practices Guide."  This report describes the winning partnerships in three award categories: the Award of Excellence, the Outstanding Achievement Award, and Best Practice.  The guide will provide a blueprint for other cities to emulate the winners.

Press is required to register for this event and others during the Conference's 68^th Winter Meeting.  Registrations will be accepted by telephone or on the Internet at the Conference's Winter Meeting Information Center, /68thWinterMeeting. The USCM press room on site will be the Pan American Room (Ph. 202-639-5422). 

An independent panel of judges was appointed by the Conference of Mayors to review the submissions.  The judges are former Newport News Mayor Jessie Rattley, James Taylor of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Judith Burrell of the National Association of Broadcasters.  Criteria upon which their selections were made included: improvement in delivery of services, replicability, sustainability, cost savings, creativity of approach, benefits to both public and private partners, economic and business benefits, and measurable results.

The U. S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.  There are about 1,100 such cities in the country today.  Each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.