By Jocelyn Bogen
June 28, 2010

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, Inc. celebrated mayoral leadership and innovation June 12 by awarding Mayors Mark Mallory of Cincinnati and Jennifer T. Stultz of Gastonia (NC) first place honors in the 2010 City Livability Awards Program during the Mayors- 78th Annual Meeting in Oklahoma CIty.

This is the 31st year in which cities have competed for the award that is sponsored by the Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, Inc., the nation's largest provider of waste management services. The award recognizes mayoral leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in America's cities, focusing on the leadership, creativity, and innovation demonstrated by mayors. This year's winning cities were selected by former mayors from a pool of over 200 applicants.

"For more than three decades now, the City Livability Award has been one of the most prestigious awarded by this organization, and one of the most competitive," said Conference President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz. "Each year, hundreds of mayors and their city governments submit a wide range of programs for consideration, vying for the honor of calling themselves a City Livability Award winner. We thank Waste Management, Inc. for their decades of support in honoring and giving national attention to mayoral innovation and leadership. It is through this partnership that we continue to salute the mayors who have developed the best practices and successful programs that improve the quality of life for all city residents."

Waste Management Government Affairs and Corporate Communications Senior Vice President Barry H. Caldwell presented the awards during Friday's luncheon session in Oklahoma City. "We are honored to again partner with the USCM and sponsor the City Livability Award," said Caldwell. "It's a big deal to us and we care passionately about the livability of our cities."

In addition to the two top awards, Outstanding Achievement Awards were given to five cities with populations of 100,000 or more — Arlington (TX), Austin (TX), Dallas (TX), Philadelphia (PA), and Salt Lake City (UT) — and five cities with populations of less than 100,000 — Burnsville (MN), Carmel (IN), Lauderhill (FL), Norwalk (CT), and Sugar Land (TX).

Honorable Mention Citations for cities with populations of 100,000 or more went to Alexandria (VA), Columbus (OH), Honolulu (HI), and San Jose (CA). Citations for cities with populations of less than 100,000 went to Aguadilla (PR), Reading (PA), West Palm Beach (FL), and Westland (MI).

"Our City Livability Awards Program gives the Conference a chance to highlight mayoral leadership in making urban areas cleaner, safer, and more livable," said Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. "We are grateful to Waste Management for its many years of support for the City Livability Awards Program, and for the opportunity to showcase the creativity and commitment of mayors and city governments across the country."

The Muralworks program employs teens (14-19 years of age) and professional artists to paint at least one mural in each of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods. The initiative revitalized the mural site area as well as the community at large. There are now 20 Cincinnati neighborhoods with 26 murals, and seven more are planned for this year. Over the course of the past three summers, 280 teens and 80 professional artists have been employed. The murals are seen by nearly 153 million cars as they drive by. In neighborhoods from lower Price Hill to Over-the Rhine, where once there were bare walls and blighted lots, there are now colorful, vibrant, and lively murals which are instant neighborhood icons, and which have transformed the city as a whole. The judges overwhelmingly chose this as their favorite project and wish they had a chance to replicate it while in Office, declaring, "This is the project that made us jealous!"

"Hope for Gaston" is a faith-based outreach ministry serving the greater Gaston area. It consists of a group of churches, community leaders, and volunteers who work together to strengthen communities. The group comes together on a predetermined day to repair homes in a targeted neighborhood. The housing units are selected based upon age and condition of the structures, and where the repairs are too great for the homeowners to afford. Two projects in 2009 impacted more than 50 homes and provided 1,010 boxes of food (enough to feed a family of four for a week) to families in need. This was a true partnership between the city and the faith-based community. The judges appreciated this project's broad community outreach and recognized the clear tangible difference it made in the individual lives it touched.