Columbia Mayor elected to national conference board

Columbia Mayor Daniel J. Rickenmann was elected to the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) Advisory Board during the USCM’s 92nd annual meeting (June 20-23), which convened nearly 200 mayors from across the country in Kansas City, Missouri.

Along with voting on the new leadership team, in which Mayor Rickenmann joins as a board member, the USCM approved a slate of policy resolutions that will serve as the official platform of the organization and guide its advocacy agenda for 2025, which is a vital window for the USCM following the presidential and congressional elections in November.

“Communities nationwide are facing shared challenges such as unaffordability, the mental health crisis, and gun violence. Now more than ever, uniting with resources, ideas, and solutions is crucial,” said Rickenmann. “I am honored to be elected by my peers to serve on the Advisory Board, and I look forward to representing the City of Columbia in the USCM leadership. Together, America’s cities will drive impactful change by partnering for economic development, advancing critical infrastructure goals, and guiding us toward a brighter future.”

In addition to serving on the Advisory Board for USCM, Rickenmann currently serves as the chair for the Energy Standing Committee and is a member of the Public-Private Partnerships Task Force for the USCM.

Former Columbia Mayor, Stephen K. Benjamin (in office 2010-2022), served as the 76th President of the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s from May 7, 2018 to July 1, 2019.

The United States Conference of Mayors is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today. Each city is represented in the conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. The primary roles of the USCM is to advocate as the leading voice for cities in our nation’s capital, provide networking with other cities across the U.S., promote and communicate the stories of membered cities, and to perform and share best practices to tackle challenges in a variety of issue areas.