Honolulu & Beverly Hills Deemed "Most Livable" Cities in America

INDIANAPOLIS, IN and HONOLULU, HI -- (Marketwired) -- 06/25/16 -- Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Beverly Hills, CA Mayor John Mirisch have been awarded first place honors in the 2015 City Livability Awards Program during The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 84th Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

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 the mayors. This year's winning cities were selected by former mayors from a pool of over 150 applicants.

"Our City Livability Awards Program gives us the chance to express our pride in cities' mayoral leadership in making urban areas cleaner, safer, and more livable," said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the Conference of Mayors. "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 innovation and commitment of mayors and city governments across the country."

This is the 37TH year in which cities have competed for the award, which is sponsored by the Conference of Mayors and Waste Management, Inc., the nation's largest environmental solutions provider.

Susan Moulton, Waste Management's Senior Corporate Director of Public Sector Solutions, presented the City Livability awards during today's annual luncheon in Indianapolis, IN. "It is a privilege for Waste Management to partner with the USCM and honor the Mayors working to enhance their cities' quality of life, which the City Livability Awards represent," said Ms. Moulton. "For more than 27 years, Waste Management has sponsored the Awards because as the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental solutions for North America, our services are vital to the quality of life of cities and communities across the nation."

Please see below FIRST PLACE program descriptions:

Honolulu's (large city) Program of Waste Energy Recovery (H-Power) -

H-Power is a creative solution to for Honolulu's solid waste disposal problem. Began operation in 1990, and is a one-of-a-kind integrated facility and the only operating plant in the U.S. that combines the best of reuse-derived fuel (RDF) technology and mass burn (MBN) technology. H-Power has become critical to to Honolulu's municipal solid waste management plan, reducing Honolulu's dependence on imported oil through annually displacing 700,000 barrels of oil and decreasing the demand on the island's only municipal landfill. Through this innovation, Honolulu has become the country's leader in waste-to-energy (WTE) conversion.

"We know that on an island of nearly one million people we cannot continue building landfills, and in the most remote place on the planet, we cannot continue importing oil and coal. With the addition of a third boiler and a sludge intake facility at our nation-leading waste-to-energy plant, we are now diverting nearly 80 percent of our municipal waste stream from Oahu's only landfill, and making great strides toward Hawaii's ambitious goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045. In Honolulu, we're turning trash into profits for taxpayers instead of filling up space at the landfill. We are extremely honored this achievement was recognized with the Livability Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors." -- Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell

Beverly Hills, CA (small city) Ambassador Program -

The Ambassador Program strategically coordinates local government, private and non-profit entities to address homelessness and improve community quality of life in Beverly Hills. The program provides a hybrid of hospitality, safety and social services to residents, businesses, visitors and individuals in need. In an era when state and federal funding to end homelessness continues to be cut, Beverly Hills has created micro-service continuums to address homelessness to the benefit of individuals in need, and serve the broader interests of diverse stakeholders.

"The City of Beverly Hills is thrilled to receive the 2016 City Livability Award and we thank the U.S. Conference of Mayors for such a distinguished honor. I am especially pleased that more communities will learn about the good work we are doing in Beverly Hills to provide for the needs of people who live, work and visit in Beverly Hills, including our homeless population. Our Ambassadors' consistent presence and knowledge of those in need has allowed for efficient coordination of outreach and services to the homeless, producing a 50% decrease in the number of people found in our annual homeless count this past year. The Ambassadors' presence on our City streets has led to a reduction in aggressive panhandling and provides a sense of safety and enhanced quality of life." --- Beverly Hills, CA Mayor John Mirisch

In addition to the two top awards, Outstanding Achievement Awards were given to five cities with populations of 100,000 or more -- and five cities with populations of less than 100,000 -- Carmel (IN), Orland Park (IL), Renton (WA), Rochester Hills (MI), and Sunrise (FL).

Honorable Mention citations for cities with populations of 100,000 or more went to Arlington (TX), Houston (TX), Memphis (TN), and Seattle (WA). Citations for cities with populations of less than 100,000 went to Camuy (PR), Davie (FL), Norwalk (CT), and Westland (MI).

About The United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

   Contact:Elena [email protected] Sara Durr202-215-1811 [email protected]

Source: U.S. Conference of Mayors

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