22 Mayors Honored for Model Public/Private Partnerships

By Jennifer DeLong and Tony Iallonardo

The Excellence in Public/Private Partnership Awards recognizing outstanding partnerships between cities and companies were conferred at a luncheon led by Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. as part of USCM’s 68th Winter Meeting. Mayors and their private partners from 22 cities received awards or special recognition.

In announcing these awards, Mayor Cianci remarked, “ Today we, as mayors, are called upon to lead our cities like CEOs lead major corporations, guiding the economic infrastructure and quality of life of our metropolitan areas in the most creative, efficient and effective manners. We must be able to offer profit sharing to our communities.

Two top Awards of Excellence were presented at the luncheon. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and partner 3Com were recognized for bringing Internet technology into classrooms, reaching more than 65,000 students in Boston public schools. Boston has the first fully-wired school district in the country.

3Com donated $1 million in services and equipment, and helped leverage another $6 million in contributions from Microsoft and Intel to bring networked computer equipment to all 130 Boston public schools. There is now one computer for every seven students, improved from one computer for sixty-three students before the program was launched.

Dayton Mayor Michael R. Turner and the Home Builders Association of Dayton and the Miami Valley received the other Award of Excellence. The City of Dayton partnered with the Home Builders Association and other private organizations to invest more than $35 million on redeveloping the neighborhood of Wright-Dunbar, an area that has experienced significant blight during the past few years. This redevelopment effort has cut crime by 80 percent and increased home property values from $10,000 to $150,000 since the project began.

Nine Outstanding Achievement Awards and eleven Best Practices were also recognized during the awards ceremony. At the luncheon, the Conference released a “Public/Private Partnership Awards Best Practices Guide.” This guide describes the winning partnerships for all recognized award winners. The case studies of award winners provide a blueprint for other cities to emulate the winners. To request a copy of this guide, please contact the Best Practices Center at 202-293-7330.