By Kevin McCarty
July 2, 2012

Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle and Grand Rapids Mayor George K. Heartwell were honored June 13 during the opening plenary session of the Conference's 80th Annual Meeting in Orlando, winning top honors in the 2012 Mayors Climate Protection Awards for their respective population categories.

In opening the special awards luncheon, Conference of Mayors Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter said, "Climate change is here to stay. That is what all of the science tells us. If you want to discover path-breaking initiatives to confronting climate change, look no further than our cities."

In commending this year's top winners, Conference President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa said, "Mayor Heartwell and Mayor Doyle have done an outstanding job developing climate protection programs that will serve as models for the rest of the country. These awards prove that cities large and small are making extra efforts to launch innovative programs to protect our environment."

"This award demonstrates how seriously Beaverton takes its responsibility in the world," Doyle said. "In my first two years as mayor, we talked with more than 5,000 of our city's 91,000 residents. Of the top three issues to come up was sustainability, and they expected us to be a leader. We stepped up with solar projects, CO2 projects, and lighting projects, and it was relentless." he said in accepting the first place award for cities under 100,000 in population.

In concluding his remarks, he thanked his staff "because you make it happen" and praised Walmart "for helping this program and keeping it in front of us. This wouldn't happen without your support."

In accepting the large city award, Grand Rapids Energy and Sustainability Director Haris Alibasic said, "Mayor Heartwell has been a true leader and visionary, and has been working on sustainability-related efforts since 2004, which is a long time to be in the sustainability field."

"We are working to leverage sustainability efforts across different sectors," Alibasic said, so our residents and our businesses "really stand behind us." As set forth in the video, he emphasized, "Our efforts are making a real difference in protecting the climate and improving the quality of life in our community."

During the session, Nutter also praised Walmart for its sponsorship of the annual awards program, which is now in its sixth year.

Amy Hill, Walmart's Senior Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations, cited her company's strong support of the mayors' work on climate protection. "On behalf of Walmart, we are so proud of our partnership with the Conference, and look forward to driving even more progress together."

"One question we are asked is how do you keep sustainability on the front burner during tough economic times? There is no better time to have sustainability front and center," she said.

In addition to the first place winners, Honorable Mention Awards were presented to mayors of five large cities and five small cities.

Large cities (with a population of 100,000 or more) receiving these awards were: Charlotte (NC) Mayor Anthony Foxx, Denton (TX) Mayor Mark Burroughs, Indianapolis (IN) Mayor Gregory A. Ballard, Los Angeles (CA) Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, and Oakland (CA) Mayor Jean Quan.

Small city (below 100,000 population) awardees were: Manhattan Beach (CA) Mayor Wayne Powell, Newton (MA) Mayor Setti D. Warren, Pleasanton (CA) Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, Racine (WI) Mayor John Dickert, and Rochester Hills (MI.Mayor Bryan K. Barnett.