Charleston (SC) Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. received the first-ever President’s Award during the Saturday Twenty-First Annual City Livability Awards Presentation at the Annual Conference June 21st.

The award was presented by Conference President and Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb who noted that Mayor Riley has participated in the work of The Conference for 25 years and has displayed great personal leadership on issues national in scope.

Riley was President of The Conference in 1986-1987 and, as Mayor Webb said, displayed leadership in such areas as establishing the Mayors Institute on City Design and urban historic preservation and responding to natural disasters such as Hurricane Hugo.

But recently, Mayor Riley achieved national acclaim for his role on the issue of the Confederate flag flying over the State Capital in Columbia, SC. Riley organized a march from his city to Columbia and organized this public protest against an issue which he said had sowed deep divisions among the people of his state.

In accepting the award, Mayor Riley praised all the mayors for their leadership on issues of race and diversity.

"While the march is over, the journey continues until all understand that diversity is a great part of the beauty of America," Riley said in accepting the award.             

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