Oklahoma
Mayor David Holt installed as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors
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- Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt began his term as president of the United States Conference of Mayors.
- Holt is believed to be the first Native American to serve in this role.
- The Conference of Mayors allows city leaders to share ideas and learn from each other’s successes and failures.
In addition to serving as mayor of Oklahoma City and as the dean of Oklahoma City University School of Law, David Holt added another hat to his wardrobe, now serving as the president of the United States Conference of Mayors.
His tenure as the organization’s 83rd president began the same day the Oklahoma City Thunder won its first NBA championship. He’s the second OKC mayor to serve in that capacity.
Holt’s term runs until June 2026, and he is believed to be the first Native American to serve in the role, according to a city news release. Former Mayor Mick Cornett served as the organization’s president in 2016-17 and hosted the annual meeting in Oklahoma City in 2010 when Holt served as Cornett’s chief of staff.
Beyond the logistics of running a nearly century old organization, it’s an opportunity to learn from other cities and have other cities learn from OKC, Holt told The Oklahoman. He said he has found a lot of value in the organization. Another benefit is friendship and camaraderie with other mayors.
“I think part of our story in the last 30 years has been mayors who are willing to market the city and represent the city and that ultimately is just part of the strategy,” he told The Oklahoman. “I often say that people don’t visit, live in or invest in cities they’ve never heard of, so there’s a lot of ways that we as a community get our name out there.”
MAPS projects have been an inspiration for other cities
Holt said cities are able to learn from each other and cited Oklahoma City’s MAPS projects. It’s now one of the most well-known initiatives in urban circles, Holt said.
He said cities have been inspired by different aspects of MAPS — Little Rock, Arkansas, and Louisville, Kentucky, have attempted to implement the program or something similar, but both efforts have failed. Holt said they didn’t really have the opportunity to try to implement it.
“The best ideas that work around the country are certainly those that we will try to emulate in Oklahoma City and it’s a perfect example of the old phrase that the cities and states are the laboratories of democracy,” Holt said. “Sometimes we’ll let others do the experimentation first, and then we’ll pick it up.”
Holt said an example of that is watching Indianapolis’ sports strategy. The city carved out a space for themselves as the amateur sports capital of the world and eventually they became home to the NCAA, Holt said.
“Just that idea that you could sort of define yourself around a certain category of sports and that that would elevate your whole city, I think was intriguing,” he said. “Obviously as it’s turned out with us, we’re sort of all over the place. We have used the NBA and used softball and now use paddle sports to elevate ourselves in so many different ways.”
Another benefit of watching other cities try something for the first time is not making the same mistakes as they did, Holt added. Between Cornett’s involvement with the Conference of Mayors and now Holt, that’s almost a quarter of a century of high-level engagement.
As president, Holt is responsible for several duties including weighing in on timely topics, such as releasing a statement about the floods in Texas. Other duties include convening and presiding over meetings, weighing in on local issues, attending meetings on a variety of topics such as housing and homelessness and other administrative responsibilities.
Formed in 1932, the conference is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more, according to a city news release.
Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director, said the conference is fortunate to lean on Holt’s leadership in a time of opportunity and need for America’s cities.
“He champions the value of local leadership, and he embraces the power this conference has to unite so many voices to improve the lives of the people of America’s cities. I know his colleagues are grateful to have him steering the ship,” Cochran said.