By Jocelyn Bogen
June 29, 2009

The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Waste Management celebrated 30 years of recognizing mayoral leadership and innovation June 25 by awarding mayors Joseph P. Riley, Jr. of Charleston (SC), and Kevin C. Foy of Chapel Hill (NC), first place honors in the 2009 City Livability Awards Program during the Mayors' Annual Meeting in Providence.

Sponsored by The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, the awards program focuses on mayoral leadership, creativity and innovation, and broad impact on the lives of city residents. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran commented, "Our City Livability Awards Program gives the Conference a chance to highlight mayoral leadership in making urban areas cleaner, safer and more livable. We are grateful to Waste Management for its 20 years of support of the City Livability Awards Program, and for the opportunity to showcase the creativity and commitment of mayors and city governments across the country."

"We are honored to again partner with the USCM and sponsor for the 20th time the City Livability Award. It's a big deal to us, and we care passionately about the livability of our cities," said Barry H. Caldwell, Senior Vice President Government Affairs and Corporate Communications of Waste Management, Inc.

Outstanding Achievement Awards for cities with populations of 100,000 or more were awarded to mayors Donald Plusquellic of Akron (OH); Mark Burroughs of Denton (TX); Mark Stodola of Little Rock (AR); Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City (OK), and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia. Outstanding Achievement Awards for cities with populations of fewer than 100,000 went to: Gerald D. Jennings of Albany (NY); Bruce Barrows of Cerritos(CA); John Robert Smith of Meridian (MS); Dave Heilmann of Oak Lawn (IL); and Brian Stratton of Schenectady (NY).

Honorable Mention citations were awarded for cities with populations of 100,000 or more to mayors Ron Littlefield of Chattanooga (TN), Maher Maso of Frisco (TX); Bill Boogaard of Pasadena (CA); and, David Cicilline of Providence (RI). Cities with populations of less than 100,000 that received Honorable Mentions were mayors Carlos Mendez-Martinez of Aguadilla (PR); Brad Cole of Carbondale (IL); Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher of Dublin (IL); and, James Thompson of Sugar Land (TX).

Charleston (SC) — The Palmetto Artisan Program is an entrepreneurial skill program that was created to help local youth who were selling roses fashioned from palmetto tree fronds become legitimate business vendors. The program was created as an answer to the growing concerns about local youth referred to as "Rose Kids," who developed a negative reputation for exhibiting aggressive behavior, littering, blocking sidewalks and removing two palmetto fronds from private property. Business owners, residents and visitors to Charleston complained about the children and the challenges that they posed. The city decided that rather than prohibit the children's business venture that they would promote their creativity, encourage their entrepreneurial spirit and provide an opportunity for the children to sell their wares while serving as a complementary activity to the city's tourism market. The program includes a week long after'school program called BIZ Camp. The camp is taught by National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship professionals and YEScarolina (Youth Entrepreneurship South Carolina). The purpose is to engage the youth in business and entrepreneurship learning in a recreational setting. BIZ Camp teaches customer service, marketing techniques, social skills and provides real world applications of math and reading skills. The city has provided a downtown recreation center where graduates of the program check in to receive free fronds for their roses, nourishment and mentoring.

Chapel Hill (NC) — In 2001, Foy championed the creation of the Chapel Hill Transit fare free system and today, Chapel Hill has the second largest transit system in North Carolina, second only to Charlotte, and one of the largest fare-free system in the United States. Since that time, ridership has risen more than 130 percent, from three million riders a year to over seven million riders annually projected for 2009. This program is unique in that while some university transit systems provide fare free service for university students, faculty and staff, very few communities provide fare-free transit service to all riders. The commitment in this community went beyond the University to all residents in the community in an effort to encourage greater usage of public transportation and reduction of reliance on the single occupancy automobile. Public transit is an integral part of the Chapel Hill community. The significant commitment to public transit has made Chapel Hill a sustainable community in which people do not need to rely on the automobile.

Akron (OH) — Community Learning Center (CLC) is a partnership between the state, the city, and the school district to rebuild or renovate nearly 50 Akron Public Schools over 15 years.

Denton (TX) — The Sustainable Schools Program is a partnership between Denton and the Denton Independent School District to increase recycling participation in the community and foster environmental education.

Little Rock (AR) — Little Rock Animal Village is a facility for animal care education, veterinary care with areas where sick animals can be kept separate from healthy animals, indoor and outdoor dog runs areas, and there is space for people and their new pets to bond.

Oklahoma City (OK) — "This City is Going on a Diet" is a challenge delivered by Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett to the citizens of Oklahoma City to collectively lose one million pounds.

Philadelphia (PA) — Philadelphia's Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program is a groundbreaking initiative that is helping homeowners who are facing home loss through foreclosure to stay in their homes.

Albany (NY) — The Half Moon, an incredible hands-on sailing history and life lesson, which is part of an annual curriculum for thousands of students.

Cerritos (CA) — Cerritos Recycled Water Distribution System enhances the quality of life in Cerritos by saving 713 million gallons of drinking water every year, reducing the city's annual water costs by $858,134, and ensuring an adequate supply of water to irrigate parks and playing fields, even during drought years.

Meridian (MS) — Under the leadership of Mayor John Robert Smith the Meridian Green Initiative is a series of programs implemented for the city of Meridian, to create "green" partnerships, environmental efficiencies and municipal strategies that support a healthy environment.

Oak Lawn (IL) — Each year, the Oak Lawn Cultural Arts, Teen, and Broadway Junior Theatre Programs perform four adult musical theatre productions, a teen production, and the Broadway Junior Program for children. The program is unique in that the mayor, who has 30 years of theatre experience, initiated and personally runs the program on his own time at no cost to residents

Schenectady (NY) — In 2007 the city, along with partners, launched the "Universal Design/Green Affordable Housing Prototype Project." to develop three prototype single-family, super energy efficient, United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-Certified, universally designed homes reflecting the city's historic character.

Chattanooga (TN) — Scheduled for the first Saturday in October, Go!Fest is premier event for young people with disabilities and their families to explore the available services, resources and opportunities that would enable individuals to realize their maximum potential in setting and achieving lifetime goals.

Frisco (TX) — To reduce the amount of plastic bags in the waste stream, Mayor Maher Maso partnered with Environmental Services for an initiative to provide citizens with education and behavior modification opportunities to reduce the amount of plastic bags.

Pasadena (CA) — The On­line Green Training Program is a program to train and guide citizens and employees through the seven thematic areas of Pasadenas sustainability plan: energy, waste reduction, urban design, urban nature, transportation, environmental health and water conservation.

Providence (RI) — The Providence After School Alliance (PASA) initiative is an innovative, first-of-its-kind, city-wide system of free afterschool care for Providence's urban middle'schoolers.

Aguadilla (PR) — For the past eleven years, Aguadilla has been running a sports and recreational program called More Sports for your Community which offers more than twenty sports and recreational activities free of charge and has served more than 3,000 children throughout the city.

Carbondale (IL) — The Carbondale Futures Program is a youth employment program, employing twenty-five Carbondale Community High School students at area businesses for a minimum of ten hours per week for six months. The program consists of employment workshops and on the on-the-job training.

Dublin (OH) — Dublin's DubLink program is a system of more than 100 miles of underground fiber-optic cable, DubLink provides high'speed voice, data and video communications creating a "telecommunications pathway" within the city. Once fully deployed, residents, businesses and city employees will be able to directly link to other computers in the network via broadband

Sugar Land (TX) — In an effort to maintain the community's enviable position within the region, the city has now begun to focus on cultivating local educational, cultural and entertainment opportunities for its growing and thriving population base. Within a 48-month span, the city worked tirelessly to establish partnerships with a myriad of public and private entities to open parkland, a university campus and museum in the last undeveloped tract of the city, approximately 1,000 acres.