NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) elected New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as its second vice president during the 83rd USCM Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA, positioning Landrieu to ascend to the office of USCM president in June 2017.
Also at the conference, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake became the first African-American female president of the organization, while Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett became vice president.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,210 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor.
“In the years since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans has learned firsthand the importance and benefits of forging positive relationships with cities, businesses and nonprofits across the nation,” said Mayor Landrieu. “New Orleans is the nation’s most immediate laboratory for innovation and change, and we can learn a lot from our brothers and sisters all over the country. As USCM works toward addressing some of our nation’s most pressing challenges, New Orleans has a unique and incredibly important perspective to share and we stand to learn a lot. With the world turning its eyes to New Orleans in 2018 for its 300th anniversary, I am proud to be a part of USCM’s leadership team and to do everything I can to better the quality of life for all New Orleanians and for countless Americans across this great country.”
Landrieu immediately joined USCM after taking office as mayor of New Orleans in 2010. In the subsequent years, he served in leadership roles including Trustee and member of the Executive Committee; Chair of the Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment & Sports Committee (TAPES); and, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Working Group. Landrieu also hosted the World Cultural Economic Forum alongside the U.S. Department of State and USCM in 2012 and 2013, and hosted members of the TAPES Committee to New Orleans in 2014. When Landrieu assumes the presidency of USCM in June 2017, he will be the fifth New Orleans mayor to do so, following Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley (1933-34), Mayor Moon Landrieu (1975-76), Mayor Ernest Morial (1985-86) and Mayor Marc Morial (2001-02).
“America's mayors stand at the forefront of the most pressing issues directly affecting our day-to-day lives,” said Landrieu. “USCM is a bipartisan organization uniquely positioned to tackle these challenges. I am honored to join the leadership team as second vice president and support the hundreds of talented member mayors. There is no better time for mayors to stand up and lead than right now.”
