July 12, 2004

Mayors Joseph P. Riley, Jr., of Charleston (SC), and Marty Blum of Santa Barbara (CA), were awarded top honors in the 2004 City Livability Awards Program at the Annual Conference of Mayors in Boston on June 26.

The City Livability Awards recognize and honor mayors for exemplary leadership in developing and implementing programs that improve the quality of life in America's cities. An independent panel of judges, selected by the United States Conference of Mayors, determined the winning cities from a pool of 211 applicants, based on three criteria: mayoral leadership, creativity and innovation, and broad impact on the quality of life for residents.

Charleston won First Place in the large city category (100,000 in population and above) for it's Livability Court, created under the direction of Riley, which addresses minor disturbances and ordinance violations that were previously interjected among more serious cases in the criminal court system.

Santa Barbara's First Place Award for small cities (under 100,000 in population) was for the Santa Barbara Downtown Worker Housing Program which delivers high-density affordable housing of extraordinary quality to low-income households.

Additional Outstanding Achievement Awards for cities with populations of 100,000 or more were received by Mayors Martin O'Malley of Baltimore; Jeremy Harris of Honolulu; Ron Gonzales of San Jose; and Francis G. Slay of St. Louis. Outstanding Achievement Awards were also given to mayors of cities with populations of 100,000 or fewer people: Mayors Carlos Mendez of Aguadilla (PR); Peter A. Clavelle of Burlington (VT); Michael A. Guido of Dearborn; and Manuel E. Guillen of Paramount (CA).

Honorable Mention Citations were awarded, for cities with populations of 100,000 or more, to: Mayors Mark Begich of Anchorage; Thomas M. Menino of Boston; Charles J. Luken of Cincinnati; Vera Katz of Portland; and Keith P. Hightower of Shreveport. Mayors of cities with populations of less than 100,000 receiving Honorable Mentions were Dan Coody of Fayetteville (AR); Chuck Oberlie of Michigan City (IN); H Abram Wilson of San Ramon (CA); Brenda L. Lawrence of Southfield (MI) and David J. Jones of St. Joseph (MO).

The City Livability Awards were presented at the Conference of Mayors' Annual Luncheon by David Steiner, Chief Executive Officer of Waste Management, the nation's largest provider of waste management services. Waste Management's support makes the City Livability Awards Program possible.

"Waste Management employees work continuously with community leaders on ways to improve the quality of life in our urban spaces," said Steiner. "During the fifteen years we have sponsored this program, we-ve always discovered creative and innovative ways in which mayors raise the standard for families who choose to live, work and play in our nation's cities."

Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran added, "Our City Livability Awards Program gives the Conference a chance to express our pride in cities' determined leadership in making urban areas more safer, cleaner and more livable. We are grateful to Waste Management for their support of the City Livability Awards Program, and for the opportunity to showcase the talent and commitment of mayors and city governments."

Brief descriptions of the First Place, Outstanding Achievement and Honorable Mention winners are available here.